Bienvenue
by Villanela
Summary: While Klaus struggles with the loss of his daughter, a doppelganger awakes at dawn somewhere in Louisiana. No memory, no clue of what happened, and Klaus' name branded on her skin.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE:**

She woke up in pitch black darkness, knowing nothing. For the first few minutes, maybe hours, she just laid there. Loud industrial sounds penetrated the even louder silence; sirens, drilling, the wind, sometimes even a man's shout.

Was she blind?

_Blindly_, she tested out her body. First by moving her arms, and crying out loudly when it _hurt_. Something wet and warm slid down her arm when she moved it. The pain, for her premature mind and lack of experience, was unimaginable.

That was when she heard her voice for the first time. At her startling loud cry. It echoed, and that was when she knew she was somewhere very large.

The sheer hopelessness of what was happening made her cry harder, hiccuping and sniffling. She tried to wipe her nose, and instead smears blood on her face. Horrified, she scrambled away. Away from what exactly, she didn't know. Herself? Had someone hurt her? It must be. The pain from her arm was a throbbing, alive thing. Her body ached all over, felt like her skin was rubbed raw and her limbs rusty from disuse.

She crawled.

An instinct inside her had her trying to get up, even unseeing of what she could bump into, but her knees gave under her immediately. Her teeth clacked together, and she cried out again. When was this going to end?

She knew she was on her own in this world. If she wasn't, why was she alone right now? It was a big, dark, scary world, even if it was limited to where she was at the moment. There was more out there. She was sure of that, as sure in her knowledge that something terrible had happened to her.

Was she still in danger? She didn't know.

That scary thought in mind, she crawled faster. Again and again she tried to get up. After crawling for some time, her muscle strengthened enough to put some weight on her feet. It must have made for a horrific sight, to see her crawling like a person possessed and crying out in pain with every step that felt like stabbing needles in her legs. Her right arm hurt too much to do anything but cradle it protectively to her chest.

By the time she reached for the first tangible thing she'd touched in her existence, she was exhausted and extremely ravenous.

It was a- _thank God_. It was a wall. For a few moments, she allowed herself to rest against it, breathing hard and yet relieved. Getting up, she leaned on and actually _walked_, tracing her left hand against its cold surface until she reached a doorknob.

It felt like wood, splintery and odd smelling. A few stings sharpened her mind to the pain she was giving herself by depending her weight on the door. It was her only option, though. That, or fall.

The door creaked loud enough to wake the dead, loud enough for her to push her ear against her shoulder in an attempt to block the sound. Everything sounded absurdly loud and every scrap a hundred times more painful.

She did get the door open, and she found out that she wasn't blind.

The overwhelming brightness of the world was too much, too fast, and she turned her back to it, eyes squeezed shut.

_I can do this_. She told herself. She didn't know much- or really, anything. She didn't even know her name or herself, but survival instinct pushed her to face the lights again. And face the graveyard.

It smelled rank. To her untested nose, the rancid smell made her lurch forward and gag. There was nothing in her stomach to vomit, but her body tried its best. She cupped her smarting palm over her nose and tried to breathe through her mouth. Yes, it was more tolerable this way.

The gravestones had vines growing over them, and what may have been rotting flowers left over a loved one's grave. To her frustration, the names written were almost scraped off and fading.

First thing she'll do after eating and getting out of this cursed place was to learn where she was, even if she wanted to get out more than anything. Then she'll be educated enough to know who she was.

Determined, she walked around the cemetery, trying to find the exit. The bright light that had been the first thing she'd ever seen was actually the moon, hanging hauntingly large over the horizon. She looked away, eyes tearing from its brightness. Her gaze dropped down, and for the first time, she saw her arm. Crudely carved on the inside of her wrist and along her arm was the name _Klaus_. It was still a bleeding wound, and the pain tripled now that she'd put a cause for her agony.

Good God, who would do that? She didn't know much, but having a name practically _butchered _onto her skin had to be criminal.

Was that her name? It didn't feel right. It was a boy's name, and the dark brown hair that fell to the middle of her back and the shirt that fell to her thighs proved otherwise.

Dizzy, cold, and in pain, she stumbled along the cemetery for at least ten minutes. The world got increasingly darker, but she finally stumbled upon the sight of an iron fence with pointy things poking out on top. A few minutes later, she found the gate.

Before she left, she wanted to look back at what she'd left behind. Her birthplace? But it was too dark too really see anything, and it smelled so bad that wondered if that scent applied to her as well.

The highway she followed was creepy, but it was smooth and only a few rocks or loose gravel hurt her bare feet. As she walked, she thought hard over everything she knew until her head hurt. It was like taking inventory of her knowledge.

Name? She didn't know.

Age? No idea.

Where she was? Not a clue.

Did she now anyone who could help her?

...Maybe? This Klaus? What if he was the one who'd carved his own name into her skin?

The idea was becoming increasingly blurry in her mind, or rather the name. She found she didn't know much, but a small well of information or intents was buried in her head. Like she knew Klaus obviously wasn't her name. Like she knew it was someone else who had hurt her. _Klaus _felt like a message, or a warning.

After an hour of walking, she'd said the name so much it started to feel fictional When she'd spoken it out loud for the first time, it'd sent a jolt of something down her spine. It meant something to her. Happiness, laughter, mystery, horror were all feelings she experienced thinking about him. It almost felt like she'd conjured it out of her imagination. However, the pain in her arm was an everlasting reminder of how real he was.

Her stomach cramped in hunger, caving in on itself, and she forgot all about Klaus. Despite it hurting, she hurried her step.

The sky was beginning to darken when she'd first came out of the cemetery, but now it was an even darker black in the hours of the night.

She had the scare of a lifetime when a big, bulky, vehicle of some kind race past her with flashing lights. It made the most awful, loud noise. She straight up crouched to the ground, hands covering her head, thinking she was about to die.

But the monster ignored her and was gone in a matter of seconds. She took some time to calm her heart then took back to the road.

It was a car, she realized after a while. How hadn't she known that when she first saw it? The paralyzing fear had kept her from thinking. It was a good thing that she knew it was a car, because she saw three more during her walk. She followed their direction until she reached a sign at an intersection.

This time, she could read it. New Orleans. 1 mile.

New Orleans it was. It felt right, like it was her purpose. That, and to find this Klaus person for some answers.

It rained, terrifyingly loud and monstrous.

She was thirsty, so at first she tried to catch the rain with her tongue. Then the rain started falling down _hard_, so she cupped her palms together and drank this way until she was satisfied.

Thunder crackled above her, sending her to a panic. She'd imagine anything could sound so loud, even louder than the rain. She hadn't spotted the lightening the first few times, and she eventually did, and her heart stopped with it.

She ran. Her feet must have started getting cut up from the road, but it was a matter of survival to get away from the lightning and thunder that followed her. The rain was inevitable, but nonetheless scary.

Hours passed before the weather eased up. By this time, she was drenched and shivering. To keep walking on her injured feet was an inconceivable thought, but she had to. The more she walked, the more she became convinced that Klaus would be her salvation. Why would his name be branded on her otherwise? What if she belonged to him?

That didn't feel right either, to belong to someone. And someone so cruel that he had his name carved on her. There must be some other explanation.

Wolf howls sounded from a distance, and she hurried away from that part of the woods. Eventually, _eventually_, she reached civilization. In a matter of minutes, she stumbled upon a parade of some sort.

People in crazy, colorful costumes, upbeat music and thundering drums, the brightest lights; They gave her a headache and a good fright. The crowd was out of control, dancing and shouting and singing. For a while, the surge of people was too powerful to change directions, and she was forced to follow along.

She had to find this Klaus. Immediately. But how?

Saying his name was an experiment while she'd been on the road, then it was unreal, and then a comfort. She wasn't completely alone. There was someone who was so related and integrated into her existence that his name was branded onto her skin.

"Klaus?" she called out, hesitant. Her throat felt raw and dry, her voice painful to use. No matter. She had to soldier through. "_Klaus_!"

It was working, getting some attention. It was minimal, but at least people were looking her way. Louder, and more confident, she kept calling out.

Someone crashed into her. It was a young woman with blonde hair and a ridiculously extravagant headband over her head. "I'm so sorry, sweetie," the stranger apologized immediately. She frowned. "Hey, are you alright?"

_No_. No, she wasn't alright. "I'm looking for Klaus," she said. "Do you know where he is?"

She was given a strange look and a sympathetic frown. "I don't know who that is, sorry." A friend tugged at her arm. "Look, best of luck. Hope you find your friend." And she was gone, swallowed up by the crowd.

She swallowed hard. The world was so bleak right now, despite the colorful festival.

She went back to her old plan. "_Klaus_!"

Until her voice gave away to a hoarse whisper, she was ready to call out for the only thing she knew. It didn't come to that, but fell close. After some time, a dark-skinned man's head snapped toward her when he heard her voice.

She hesitated. "Klaus?"

The crowd surprisingly made way for the man as he went towards her. He gave off such intense energy, almost hostile, that she backed away. He grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the streets and into an alleyway.

If she'd thought waking up was painful, it had nothing on the agony now, because the man had handled her with her _right _arm. The agonized scream that tore out of her lips wasn't lost on the man, and he let her go quickly and with a curse.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "And why are you looking for Klaus?"

Disappointment made her deflate. Why was this beginning to feel hopeless? Just when she thought she was getting somewhere, she got hurt and yelled at.

"I need to find Klaus," she said, trying to act strong. Tearful was a better description for the reality.

"Why?" the man bit out.

"I just _do_," she said desperately. "I need his help."

That was when the man _really _looked at her. He saw her drenched shirt and hair, the blood and cuts, the way she was shivering, holding her injured arm protectively to her chest, and on the edge of bursting out in tears.

"Who are you then?" he asked, though a bit more gently.

She shook her head. She tried to say, "I don't _know_." but her voice cracked this time, stuck on a sib. She raised her hand to wipe her tears away, but her arm was snatched into his grip a second after she lifted it.

"What the…" The man was positively horrified by the _Klaus _mutilation. "Who did this to you?"

So many questions. All familiar, but she didn't know the answer for.

It was time for her to demand answers now. "Do you know where Klaus is?"

It took the man to look her in the eyes and see the truth in them to nod. "I'll take you to him."

The relief was jarring. "_Thank you_," she breathed. God, this finally was finally coming to an end.

"My name is Marcel," the man explained gently. "Here." He took off his brown cargo jacket and, after hesitating at her flinch away from him, set it on her shoulders. He smiled reassuringly at her confused expression and tugged the jacket tightly around her. He even closed the zipper.

"You look like you need it more than I do." Marcel was wearing a long sleeved shirt underneath it. "I'll get you more warm clothes when we get to Klaus'."

As he spoke, his hands lingered on her shoulders, rubbing warmth into them. The concept of being touched was alien to her, had been scary at first, but now she needed it like she needed air to breathe.

Acting on instinct, she threw herself at Marcel, the kind stranger, and hugged him. He was warm too, and it made her fond of him even more.

"Thank you," she said again genuinely, snuggling to the crook of his neck.

After a moment, Marcel adapted and hugged her back. It felt _wonderful_. He rubbed her back. "You're welcome," he said. "Let's get you to Klaus, shall we?"

When he backed away and instead started to reach for her arms, she flinched away. The first time he'd done that, it _hurt_.

"Hey, hey, hey. I'm sorry, alright?" he said quickly. "I'm not going to touch your arm. I promise. You look like you're about to drop, so I was going to carry you."

Wary, she stayed away. He was right. Now that she was warm, exhaustion fell on her like a heavy boulder. She could barely stand up straight.

"Can I carry you?" Marcel asked politely this time, holding out a hand. He was letting her make the decision. "It's for you own good. Besides, you can mooch off my body heat."

For some reason, that made her smile for the first time _ever_. He had a strange way of talking, and she liked it. And more heat sounded heavenly.

Decision made, she reached for his hand. "Take me to Klaus."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO: **

She was fighting back sleep as her head rested on Marcel's shoulder. He explained to her that he could run very fast, but he thought she might get dizzy, so she hid her face in his shirt. Because of the festival, he also said, they had to be careful.

Eventually, he reached a large compound of sorts and slowed down. "We're here."

Still carrying her, he walked in. The confidence he'd previously walked with fading into careful uncertainty.

"Klaus?" Marcel bellowed, startling her. He grimaced apologetically and set her down, still holding onto her left arm. "Elijah? Come down."

_Elijah_? Who's-

In a blur of movement, a figure slammed into. In the blink of an eye, a hand roughly wrapped around her neck and pushing her into a wall. Marcel was shouting, but what he said was lost on her. The only word that stood out was _Klaus_.

This was Klaus? She thought with disbelief and horror. Her savior? Saviors didn't choke people against walls for no reason. They didn't hurt people. Klaus was supposed to help.

She struggled against him, and one extra slam into the wall had her crying out. "Let me _go_! I don't want to see you anymore."

_Klaus_, the bastard, smirked at her. He looked unnerving and all the bad things in the world incarnated. "Rather mean of you, don't you think so, sweetheart?"

"Do you know her?" Marcel asked. She realized Klaus was holding him with his other hand. How powerful was he? Marcel was a grown man, with more muscles than Klaus.

"We go way back," Klaus drawled. "Last time we spoke, she killed my brother."

Her eyes widened in fear. "That's not me."

By the arch of his eyebrows, and the _amusement _he displayed, he clearly didn't believe her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said desperately. "_Please_. Let go of me. You're _hurting me_."

Worst of all reactions, he still smiled. "There's no cure, love, and you are of no use to me anymore. You deserve to die."

She was just starting to scream in terror when Klaus was ripped away from her. Marcel was arguing with him, insisting they hear her out first. He was telling him to stop acting crazy, to _look at her. She looks like she's been punished enough_.

Still trapped behind the two men, she panicked. Her breathing quickening, and a feeling of doom dawned on her. There was no perceivable future for this. Klaus was her first, last, and only hope in the world.

But then, "_Elena_?"

A handsome man in a tailored black suit stood a small distance away. His clever eyes assessed the situation they were in before coming back to her.

"_No_," Klaus snarled, snapping their attention to him. "You don't fall for her tricks. Not you, Elijah. She killed Kol. She betrayed us, over and over again. She does not deserve your sympathy."

Oh no. The blackness came back. She almost collapsed against the wall, all the pain and tiredness hitting her over the head ten times over. She was her arm was bleeding too.

"Later, Niklaus," This Elijah said coolly. "First, we see why she's here. Elena?"

She shook her head. They had the wrong person. She wasn't this _Elena_, who killed people's brothers and betrayed families.

"Elena, it's alright," Elijah said, trying to calm her. "We're not going to hurt you. I promise. I won't let Klaus hurt you." Same way as Marcel did, he looked over her appearance and frowned. "You look like you've been through something, haven't you?"

_He understood_. Not everything, but a little. She nodded, cautious, palms flat again the wall to support herself. The sobs she was barely holding in made her breathe and swallow erratically.

"You poor thing," Elijah sympathised. He came closer, walking calmly, and held out a hand to her. "Come here."

"Elijah," Klaus warned dangerously.

Elijah made a shushing sound, dismissing Klaus. "You're safe," he said to her.

It was just the thing she wanted to feel. _Safe_. The last day had been traumatizing, and this man was offering security.

Slowly, she left the wall and Klaus and Marcel, and stepped closer to Elijah. Making it easier for her since she could hardly walk, Elijah also took tiny steps to lessen the distance. Once she was in arms' reach, she grabbed his hand, and he squeezed her tightly.

It was all it took. Similar to Marcel with his warm jacket, she collapsed in Elijah's embrace. This time, she couldn't the sobs in. She didn't cry loudly, but her body shook with the violence of the sobs.

A tense silence fell over the courtyard. Even Klaus had calmed down. Elijah held onto her with such strength that he might've been holding her together all the same. He shushed her reassuringly, stroked her hair and back, whispering promises.

After some time, Marcel came over as she was starting to calm down. When he brushed his hand along her arm, she flinched hard into Elijah's body. It- _he _was the only thing that felt safe in this world. Marcel, who had helped her at first, couldn't stand up to Klaus, but Elijah could.

"You need to check this out," Marcel said gravely. He came to her side, where she could peek at him from Elijah's shoulder. "Give us your arm," he said gently to her.

Oh right. He wanted to show them the brand. If she was thinking rationally, she would've done so already.

It hurt too much to look at it again, so she held her out for them to do what they saw fit. Elijah helped by turning her slightly to the side, her head snuggled against his chest this way. He was the one to take her right arm in his and roll up the sleeve.

His sharp gasp startled her. "Jesus Christ," Elijah swore. When their eyes met, he looked appalled.

Klaus' forceful swear had jumping in fright. This time, when he came near her, it wasn't to attack her. He looked just as staggered as Elijah and Marcel. Maybe even more, as it was _his _name carved in her skin.

"Bloody hell," was the only thing he seemed capable of saying at the end. Elijah's grip tightened on her.

"What happened?" Klaus demanded, his voice similar to the thunder that had scared her earlier. "Who did this?"

Before her fright escalated further into cardiac arrest, Elijah tugged her to him. His expression was pitying, but she sensed more anger hiding behind his calmness. "Tell us what happened. We won't let who hurt you come close again."

Everyone was waiting for her to answer, impatiently so too. She took a few deep breaths. They were looking at her expectantly. "Someone bad," she said in a quiet voice, offering all she could. The disbelieving looks she got were scalding.

"We know that," Klaus bit out. "_Who_?"

"I don't know," she cried out. Her voice caught on her last word and she turned away.

For some reason, her voice alarmed Klaus and Elijah, as they exchanged strange looks. "I-I woke somewhere dark," she recalled, shivering from both cold and fright. Marcel's jacket had soaked the water from her shirt and was just as wet now. "I walked out of there. I've been walking for hours...trying to find you." She accused Klaus, like it was his fault. Maybe it was, she didn't know. His reaction to her was genuine though. In truth, she was blaming him for turning out to be such a scary person.

"Elena…"

"Why do you think that's my name?" she demanded of Elijah, cutting him off. "You say that you know me, but I don't know you."

"She must be lying," Klaus denied instantly. She scowled at him. She was starting to hate him more and more.

"She's not." While she'd been eyeing Klaus, Elijah was looking at her. "Look at her. You know Elena. She's not able to fake this. Your _name_, Niklaus, is-"

"I know," snapped Klaus. "I know." He turned away and paced back and forth in a small distance. "So, it's Katherine," he announced suddenly, smiling like it was a brilliant idea.

Elijah stiffened. "Katherine is dead."

"Please, that leech never stays dead for long," Klaus said, almost snarling. "I never actually saw her dead body."

"She's _dead_," Elijah insisted, though he sounded slightly uncertain. He even tried to distance himself from her, but stopped at the heartbroken look she gave him. "It's Elena. That's the only _plausible _explanation. Something's just wrong with her."

"Wait, I'm confused," Marcel inserted himself into the conversation. Klaus rolled his eyes. "You know this Elena, and Katherine. Katherine's dead, so it's obviously not her. Maybe Elena has amnesia or something like that."

Klaus' lips curled mockingly. "Maybe she was hit over the head. Doesn't explain my name fucking _carved _on her skin."

"What if it's some kind of magical amnesia?" Elijah theorized. "Who else would be cruel enough to do this other than witches?"

"Werewolves," Klaus said, his hatred clear in his voice. That scared her too. She's thought he hated her, but this was more deeply rooted. "If they united with the witches, they could've done this. Hurt the doppelganger so they'd hurt me."

She was fed up. They were talking around her, about her like she wasn't _right here_. With a frustrated sound, she tried to weakly shove away from Elijah.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said wildly. "Witches? Werewolves? What's a doppelganger? I'm-" her voice broke. "I'm scared. How can I not know anything? And you-" she pointed to Klaus, who looked surprised. "You were supposed to help me. You were the only person in the world-"

Elijah drew her back into his arms before she cried in front of them again. He breathed in sharply, and murmured something under his breath. "We'll figure this out," he said quietly, but strongly. "We'll make a plan. First things first, we need to get you cleaned up and in some warm clothes. Meanwhile, Klaus, call Mystic Falls and ask about Elena...If she's there, ask about Katherine's body."

"I'll call Caroline," Klaus said. In a huff of air, he was gone. Before he left, he gave her a look so intense that she was tempted to shrink into Elijah for comfort, but she met his eyes narrowly. _He _was the one who disappointed her, not the opposite. And as far as she was concerned, she hadn't killed anyone. Even if she was this Elena person, she couldn't fathom any of those things they accused her of.

"Marcel," Elijah commanded next. "You still have connections in the city. Call around, ask about any suspicious activity. Werewolves, witches, vampires, and humans included. See if there are any new plots to take down Klaus."

"You know what?" Marcel said. "I'm actually happy to help this time. I'll call if I find something. You too."

"Of course. Thank you, Marcel," Elijah said.

Marcel nodded. "Elena?" At her frown, he retraced. "Whoever you are, don't worry, alright? I'm going to help you. Despite appearances, Klaus isn't going to hurt you. Even if he tried to, you have two vampires willing to help."

That was...slightly reassuring. Encouraged by a stroke of courage, she left the safety of Elijah's arms and gave Marcel a quick hug. She stepped back with a kiss to his cheek. It felt appropriate.

"Thank you," she thanked him for the second time tonight. Feeling shy, she raised her fingers to her lips and stepped back. Elijah caught her before she bumped into him. His arms wrapped around her waist.

Marcel shook his head, then chuckled. "Are all doppelgangers like this?"

Elijah smirked, but he didn't answer.

Elijah guided her into a room upstairs. "This is my sister, Rebekah's room. She's away at the moment, but you can take whatever you like. There are plenty of spare rooms in this house, so pick something warm, and you can choose whichever one you want to stay in tonight."

She carefully followed his words and shifted uncomfortably at the end. She felt like the carpet had been pulled from under her at what he said. "You're leaving me alone?" After feeling actually _safe _for the first time since 'waking up', she found she was terrified of letting go of him and being on her own.

Elijah's eyes widened slightly at her question. "No, no. Just temporarily. I was going to offer that you shower in privacy, then I can look at your wounds."

"My wounds," she parroted. He meant the _Klaus _carving.

Alone with her, he seemed uncertain. "Bandage them. If you'd prefer, I can call someone else. Hayley-"

She didn't know who this Hayley person was, but the idea was unpleasant. "No one else. I want you."

About to say something, Elijah changed his mind at the last second. "I'll help you to the best of my abilities, but you have to tell me everything that you know."

She nodded solemnly. She sensed how much danger she was in.

Reading her well, Elijah knew she wasn't brave enough to go in a strange girl's closet and pick what she liked. Instead, he went in himself. In the end, he piled up a pack of unopened underwear and a bra with its tag still attached, a pair of sweatpants with a string so she'd tighten them to her waist, and a plain grey shirt with the softest material.

Going up and beyond, he turned the shower in the en-suit bathroom for her and closed the door on his way out.

As expected, she panicked when she was alone. She gathered herself enough not to lunge at him and beg him to stay with her when this clearly made him uncomfortable. Leaving the door ajar was her settlement with her anxiety.

The warm water felt heavenly on her achy body. At least for the first minutes. The moment she turned her back to it to drench her hair, the powerful pressure that had previously been enjoyable suddenly reminded her of the feeling of the rain pouring down on her head, not caring that its force stung.

In her haste to get away, she stumbled back, and slipped.

At her scream, Elijah burst into the room. She couldn't see him, but she heard his panicked, "Elena!"

She'd balanced herself on her knees, sitting in the bathtub with her head cradled in her hands.

A sharp gasp echoed in the bathroom. Elijah was staring in horror at her back.

Using that same unnatural speed Marcel and Klaus had used, he had the shower turned off and was helping wrap a towel around her. He shushed her cries of pain and brushed his hand over her hair soothingly.

"I'm sorry. It reminded me of the rain. I got scared." she whimpered.

He clicked his tongue in sympathy. "I know, darling. I will find whoever did this and rip their hearts out."

In her state of fear, that should have sounded frightening. But miraculously, it was just the thing she needed to hear.

Unexpectedly, Marcel came later, carrying bags of food. He'd figured she was hungry- _starving, actually_, and brought enough to feed their entire family.

"Are you going to eat?" she asked Elijah shyly. It didn't feel right to eat all this food alone while they watched.

"I don't need to," Elijah reassured. "Right now, we're taking care of you."

Marcel read her question differently and answered, "I could eat. I bet I could out-eat you," he teased.

The first time, Marcel had been the first to make her smile. Now, he had made her laugh.

"No, you won't," she answered, smiling. "I'm so hungry I could eat this entire spread."

"You'll make yourself sick," Elijah warned lightly. They were standing in the dining room, looking at the multiple bags of Italian food. He nudged her to enter further into the room and pulled a chair out for her.

Before she defended herself to say she was joking, she realized she wasn't actually joking. The aroma of delicious food was dizzying, and she hid the effect it had on her and carefully lowered herself to the seat Elijah offered. He briefly let go of her hand to sit down next to her at the head of the table. Marcel took the opposite seat.

"Hey, I was wondering," Marcel asked. He pushed a plate of what looked like grilled chicken, mash potatoes, and vegetables towards her. "When you say you 'woke up', what do you mean? And how long ago was that?"

"Let her get a few bites in before we question her," Elijah intervened. "She's feeling faint, and I don't like that."

How had he known that? She was about to ask him when he grabbed a fork and took and gathered a decent amount of potatoes on it, and held it out invitingly. After that, she was lost in her plate.

Marcel kept plying her with more delicious options, and Elijah disapproved and made her slow down. Every once in a while, their eyes shifted to the doorway behind her, and she knew without looking at Klaus was standing there.

He was a dark, stiflying energy, but for now he was silent. He didn't want to hurt her. He was curious about her, maybe even a little sympathetic. Like Elijah, he thought what had been done to her was awful. For now, his presence in the room meant that he was going to help her.

Elena Gilbert was asleep in Elijah's arms.

He hadn't meant to, but God, she tugged at his heart strings like no other. After seeing her genuine terror and tears, and those horrific- still fresh marks on her body, he was willing to do anything to help her. Her back was deliberately mangled by a cruel artist who drew signs and symbols deep in her skin.

After her disastrous attempt of a shower, Elijah had drawn her a bath in his own bathroom. He'd averted his gaze while helping her in. He'd coached her through breathing as her aching body started hurting, vowing that she needed to clean her wounds of dirt and such before he bandaged her up.

Feeling her thin, almost bony hands clutch at his shoulders was something he'd never forget. Her trust, too. Technically, if she was telling the truth, and he was sure she was, she didn't know him. She came looking for Klaus because that was his name on her, but she ended up trusting Elijah instead.

Bath over, Elijah helped her into one of Rebekah's robes and guided her to the sofa setting he had in his room. He brought out the first aid kit and apologized sincerely to her before cleaning her wounds with alcohol wipes.

He'd never tell anyone how much she cried, how tightly she'd held onto him, how much she begged for him to leave her wounds alone, of how many promises and sweet nothings he whispered to calm her, of how many kisses he'd laid on her head during moments of vulnerabilities.

Afterwards, she looked more inclined to die than continue on tomorrow. That's how desperate he sensed she was, how hopeless.

Rather than leaving her alone, he helped her get dressed in Rebekah's clothes. They were a little too big on her, but they covered everything important. Then, he laid in bed next to her. Because of her back and the unthinkable marks etched on it, she couldn't bear to lay on it, not that she knew the cause of her pain. Instead, she was on her stomach, her head resting on his chest. He kept his arm on the middle of her back so he'd stop her from accidentally turning over and hurting herself.

Tomorrow, they'd have answers. His vampire hearing stretched to Klaus on the other side of the compound. No one in Mystic Falls answered. Klaus had followed that up with swears and wreaking havoc in the foyer. Elijah was thankful she had human hearing and didn't hear any of the vile things his brother said and did. She was tangled with him enough; she didn't need to be more scared.

_In case anyone's curious, I also have Bienvenue published on Wattpad under a different name, SarahDefined._

_Thanks for reading! Please tell me if you enjoyed my story and what you would like to see next. Any theories of what happened?_


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE:**

The next morning, Klaus walked in the living room Elijah preferred. They had many living areas and countless seats and sofas, but most were closed off.

It was safe to say no one had slept last night. And despite his hatred of doppelgangers and the trouble they were born with, he felt bad for Elena Gilbert. Maybe it was because of Hope, this newfound _softness_? in him. Yes, she'd conspired to kill his brother, but he'd benefited from it. In the sacrifice, he'd killed her aunt. Not to mention turning Tyler into a hybrid against his will, terrorizing the town for months, nearly killing and threatening all her friends at some point, etc…

That didn't mean bygones should be bygones.

If it weren't for his name crudely carved into her skin, a barbaric act that made him snarl in anger, he might've killed her in his drunken rage last night. If it weren't for Marcel and Elijah, he would have and then felt good about it later.

But he didn't, and they'd stopped him. During the entire night, he'd tried contacting every number he had of the people who lived in Mystic Falls. Bloody hell, he'd even tried Elena's phone. The Salvatores didn't answer, Bonnie didn't answer. Caroline and Alaric Saltzman hadn't answered either.

If today didn't make things any clearer, he decided he'd send someone to Mystic Falls and investigate both Elena, and Katherine's hopefully rotting corpse. God, he hoped Katherine was still dead and that the girl crying in Elijah's shoulder all night wasn't an Oscar worthy actress.

A strange feeling bubbled in his chest at the sight of Elijah and- he was going to call her Elena, since that was the only explanation he accepted. The unlikely pair was on the velvet red sofa. Elena was deep asleep on Elijah's lap. Her legs curled on top of his and her little button nose tucked in the crook of Elijah's neck.

Oddly enough, Klaus didn't want to wake her up. Poor girl had been through too much.

"Did she sleep last night?" Klaus asked in a whisper. If Elijah wasn't a vampire, he wouldn't have heard anything.

"No, but right now she is," Elijah answered quietly. His older brother looked tired, and he was still wearing his suit from yesterday, rumpled and crinkly.

No words could rightfully explain the situation they were in, and neither of them were inclined to try.

Klaus sat on the perch of the practically ancient wooden coffee table, looking over Elena's features. She looked...peaceful in Elijah's arms. Her hands were clutching at his shirt like a lifeline, but it was obvious she felt safe enough that she fell asleep on him.

"The business of doppelgangers was always a troubled thing," Klaus muttered. "It's a wonder a year has passed since we've heard anything related to her."

"As far as we were concerned, Katherine was dead, and Elena was attending college," Elijah said. "As a vampire."

The blood drained from Klaus' face. How had he missed that? "_Fuck_."

Nodding solemnly in agreement, Elijah glanced down at the troublemaker in his lap. "She's human. I'm sure of it. If the wounds don't prove it, and her beating heart, her lack of bloodlust does. I spent an hour treating those awful marks."

The white bandage wrapped around Elena's frail wrist caught Klaus' attention, and he couldn't resist. "May I?"

Although reluctant, Elijah allowed him to carefully unravel wrapping, even shifting her so she'd face sideways to make it easier for Klaus.

The _Klaus _brand was stark against her tan skin, looking painful. Not only was it a heinous act, it was carved so deeply into her skin and with such hatred that even to a thousand years old, unfeeling vampire as him, it looked nasty.

Klaus grasped her wrist gently, morbidly fascinated with _his _name on it.

"My doppelganger," he murmured to himself. It was what he often called her. Because like it or not, all doppelganger did belong to him in a way. They were made for him, for him to sacrifice them and for them to evade him. The cycle should've been broken when the ritual was completed, but she'd found a way back to him.

"Niklaus," warned Elijah like he knew what was going on in Klaus' head. Maybe he did, maybe it was because he felt the same way. After all, she was in _his _lap

"Someone...bad-" Klaus repeated Elena's description from last night. "-committed an atrocious against her. Elena Gilbert was no innocent, but she didn't deserve this."

Elijah looked down. "I know."

"And it has everything to do with me," Klaus continued persistently. "That's not just my ego talking."

"It's rather obvious that it was a message to you," Elijah said. "A threat? It's clear whoever did this has malicious intent. A written letter would have sufficed instead of this," he finished on a dry note.

Elena stirred restlessly, freezing them both in place in hopes of not waking her up. It didn't work, as her eyes fought to open. Once she registered that it was Klaus holding her hand, she became wide awake.

"Hey, shh." Elijah reacted quickly, drawing her chin towards him. "You're okay. You're safe."

Klaus had to silently endure Elijah whispering sweet nothings until she calmed down, in fear that if he spoke, he'd startle her. The only good thing was that she didn't pull her arm away from him.

When her eyes rested warily on him, he smiled to the best of his ability. "Good morning, love."

Cautiously, and shifting closer to Elijah, she whispered, "Good morning. Klaus," she added. Was that bitterness he detected in her voice?

"There's been a new development," Elijah contributed.

Hope rose in Klaus' chest. "Did you hear back from Mystic Falls?"

"No," Elijah said. "I found this. Darling, if you'd please turn around."

"Elijah…" Elena was reluctant.

"I only want to show him your back. We won't touch it. This might be crucial."

Elena removed her arm from his; she even rubbed the spot he was holding despite his grip having been gentle. Elijah let her situate herself however she liked, giving them both her back in a show of trust.

That was when Klaus decided that the Petrova doppelganger in front of them wasn't Katherine Pierce. As prone to survival she was, she'd have never turn her back so naively to them.

Silent, Elijah gravely lifted the back of her shirt. Klaus' heart dropped. For the second time in 12 hours, he was horrified without measure.

"What the hell is that?" he demanded in disbelief.

At Elena's whimper, Elijah hushed her soothingly, stroking her hair while giving Klaus a sharp glare over her head.

Klaus cleared his throat, apologetic. No one could blame him for his reaction. If he'd thought his name sliced into his inner arm was barbaric, it had nothing on the large, strange signs in the middle of her back.

"Witches," growled Klaus. There was no mistaking the symbols and energy of the circle. It was also discolored, as if someone had rubbed something on some parts of it.

Letting her shirt drop, Elijah tucked her long brown hair behind her ears before setting her down on the sofa beside him.

"Are you hungry?" Elijah questioned her, already starting to stand up. "We don't have much food, but I can make something easy."

The idea of food was overpowering to whatever precautions or embarrassment Elena held. "I'm very hungry."

"Good," Elijah said, like he had any right to approve or disapprove. "Why don't you clean up, get ready for the day? You're free to raid Rebekah's closet however you like. You don't have to just wear sweatpants and t-shirts."

"You'll be downstairs?" Elena asked uncertainly.

Klaus held in a sigh. Of course the doppelganger would become attached to his brother, not him. Her wrist forgotten and all.

"I'll be right in the kitchen," Elijah promised. "If you can't find it, call out one of our names and we'll come get you."

She discovered in the back of the closet a few bags of clothing with the tags still on. By Elijah's description, they might have been too small for Rebekah's figure.

Starved as she was, anything fit. She picked a flowery white sundress with the thinnest straps to hold it to her shoulders. Her feet remained bare as Elijah hadn't offered any shoes, and they looked too big anyway.

Finding the kitchen might've been hard if it weren't for the voices arguing downstairs. She followed them, slow in her steps because she was too scared to walk into a fight. Her reservations, however, were abruptly forgotten when she saw Marcel standing there.

"Marcel!" she breathed. When he turned around, it was to catch her in a hug. "I've missed you," she confessed into his chest.

Marcel looked charmed by her. "I missed you." Similar to Elijah earlier, he tucked her hair behind her ear. "But, hey. I brought breakfast."

Ignoring Elijah's generosity to offer to cook breakfast made her feel guilty. "But Elijah was going to-"

"Actually, no, we don't have any food in the house," Elijah clarified. He even looked a bit sheepish. "There's coffee, though."

"I have pancakes, bacon, waffles, all the works." Marcel gestured to the take away styrofoam plates on the counters. "Why don't we all eat?"

Breakfast was a nearly silent affair. Elijah pulled up her seat from last night and took the head of the table. Marcel was opposite her. To her discomfort, Klaus sat next to her. He made her arms break out in goosebumps every time they accidentally brushed hands when reaching for something.

The only conversation they had was by Marcel, who asked her about the food and which dishes were her favourites so he'd bring them tomorrow. She was happy at the idea that Marcel wanted to come back tomorrow.

After that finishing the last bite of syrupy pancake on her plate, Klaus immediately asked, "What happened last night? I want to know everything from the moment you woke up to when you bumped into Marcel."

"Niklaus," Elijah scolded. "Be gentle."

"This is me being gentle," Klaus countered. "Elena-"

"I'm not Elena," she said firmly. Quite frankly, she was getting irritated at constantly being called that. "Who is she? And who is Katherine?"

"Do you know what vampires are, sweetheart?" Elijah prodded gently.

Some part of her brain that knew everything that was common knowledge provided the answer. "Immortal creatures that rely on drinking blood. They can't go out in the sunlight."

"How do you know that?" Accusation marred Klaus' tone.

"I've spent hours last night reading up on amnesia," Elijah interfered. "Despite the trauma, the brain retains important information. She may not remember ever playing sports, for example, but she'll remember the rules. Same way she knows how to read and write."

That seemed to barely placate Klaus, but he lounged back in his seat. Manners be damned, she stood up and walked to stand beside Elijah's chair. Touching his shoulder anchored her, calmed her.

"It's a long story," Elijah continued like nothing had happened. "In addition to vampires, do you know what werewolves and witches are?" At her nod, he went on, "There is another species. Powerless but powerful. They're called doppelgangers. The first one, Tatia, was born a thousand years ago. Five hundred years later, Katerina Petrova came to be. Eighteen years ago, Elena Gilbert was born. They were human, normal, but they shared the same exact face and blood."

The way he explained it made it sound simple, but she had a hard time following. "Like identical twins?"

"Of a sort, yes," Elijah agreed, faltering slightly. "They also share ancestors."

Plausible enough. She nodded. "What does it have to do with me?" She felt stupid for asking it, but the anxiety in her stomach wouldn't be soothed unless she was sure.

"Sweetheart…" Elijah sounded sympathetic. "You look exactly like a Petrova doppelganger. You _are _a Petrova doppelganger."

Klaus snorted, bitter. "She's not just a Petrova doppelganger. She's Elena bloody Gilbert."

_That was why..._But-

Tears came to her eyes. She didn't want to be _Elena Gilbert_. That girl had hurt Elijah and Klaus, and she never wanted to do that.

"Is there any possibility that I'm not her?" she asked with restraint, clenching her jaw so she wouldn't cry.

The silence that ensued was answer enough.

"But she's horrible," she burst out.

Klaus' eyebrows rose to his forehead. "What?"

"Elena," she explained. She even took her seat back beside him. "She sounds _horrible_. Last night, when you thought I was her, you said she k-killed your brother. That she betrayed your family. Those are unforgivable things."

"They aren't as unforgivable as my name carved on your arm," Klaus said, gentle this time. "I've done awful things to Elena Gilbert as well. It wasn't one-sided. If a neutral party evaluated the feud, everything Elena did was in defense of her and her family. _I _started the violence."

"Great," Marcel suddenly announced. She'd forgotten he was in the room with them. "Why don't you tell her all the crimes you committed to make her terrified of you?"

Klaus looked dangerous. "Marcel, this doesn't concern you in the slightest. Matter of fact, why are you here in the first place?"

"I was the one who found her out in the rain last night," Marcel argued defensibly. He was getting angry. "If it weren't for me, she'd have died of hypothermia in a few hours. That's the best case scenario. If not, she was up for the taking by any supernatural factions looking to kill you. Like the Guerrera werewolves."

A mistake. She didn't know who the Guerrera werewolves were, but they were a sore spot for both Klaus and Elijah.

"You're certain I'm Elena Gilbert?" she asked quickly, defeatedly.

"There's no other explanation," Elijah said. Remorse softened his expression. "I'm sorry. Doppelgangers are born every five hundred years or so."

She wasn't ready to give up. If she did, that meant that someone's blood was on _her _hands, even if she didn't remember killing him. "Why did you mention Katherine then? If she was born five hundred years ago? That was forever ago."

"Because Katerina was a vampire." Venom dripped from every syllable. Klaus had a grudge for this Katherine, and her nature.

"And," Elijah jumped in. "Elena was also a vampire."

The way they stared at her made her think they were waiting for her to freak out. "So?" she swallowed hard. "I'm a vampire?" Whoa, thinking that she might not be human was scarier than she'd imagined. She felt like she would either burst into flames or in hopeless sobs.

"No, you're not a vampire."

Her relief was big enough to almost drop down to the ground. Then, "Wait. How is that possible?"

The three men exchanged a look, excluding her.

"We don't know," Elijah eventually said. "There _was _a cure for vampirism, but Elena- you, forced Katherina to take it last year."

The more she heard about Elena, the more she resented her. Worst thing was that what they were telling her felt like the truth, like it was somehow familiar.

"And Katherine's dead?" she asked, to be 100% sure. "I-I killed her?"

"She died of old age." That didn't feel like the whole truth, but she didn't care about that at the moment. "You had...almost nothing to do with it."

Marcel looked ready to stab Klaus with his fork. "Tell her about the Salvatores."

Klaus' lips curled. "I never should've caught you up last night."

"Yeah? Well, you did," Marcel shot back. "She deserves to know the truth."

Elijah sighed heavily. "Elena-" he frowned at how upset being called that made her. "...the Salvatore brothers, Damon and Stefan, are vampires. You loved each other. Last I checked, you were in a committed relationship with Damon."

"I have a boyfriend?" She wanted to scream until her voice turned shrill. Her mind was melting and overwhelmed by the amount of information, _about _her, that they were dumping on her.

"Who's also not picking up," Klaus piped in. He rolled his eyes at the venomous look he received. "Love, let's be frank. You and I are enemies. _Were _enemies. Doesn't matter. We've never gotten along. We thought it might be best if we return you to your loved ones. The Salvatores and the rest of your friends worship the ground you walk on. Meanwhile, New Orleans might be the most dangerous place for you."

What she got was that they didn't want her here. She looked at Elijah desperately. A muscle twitched in his jaw, but he didn't deny that he was looking for someone to dump her on.

What the hell was happening? Every sense of security she'd felt was ripped to shreds away from her. Again, the universe had proved she was alone.

"What I care about," Klaus said, snapping her attention to him. "Is why someone presumably kidnapped you, cut you up for a spell or ritual, marked my name on you, and wiped your memories?"

There was no stopping the tears. Hearing him spell it out so clearly and harshly _hurt_.

"I don't know." That seemed to be her default setting these days. Not knowing. "Excuse me."

Marcel and Elijah called out her name, but she raced upstairs and locked herself in the first bedroom.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR:**

A few steps into the unfamiliar room and she collapsed to her knees, sobbing. She grabbed at her chest, physically feeling her heart breaking. Why? _Why_? Why was it every time she let her guard down, it backfired on her face.

The thing about doppelgangers, the more she thought about it, the more she panicked- It felt like her body and face weren't hers. They belonged to another girl a thousand years ago, and another five centuries ago. They were the originals, not her. The _third_. She was the third, unmemorable.

And Klaus.

Oh God, Klaus. Could he have been a worse monster? Her aunt? He killed her aunt. She didn't know who Tyler was, but he'd murdered someone's _mom_. It was beyond forgiveness in her book.

And she was in his house, in his city, under his mercy.

She sobbed so hard, clutching her middle. She cried until her body hurt, until it felt like she was going blind after all from how many tears she shed and how tightly she shut her eyes in hopes to wake up from this nightmare. Doing that was hard because she had no better place to long for, no safe haven. Last night, she'd naively thought Elijah was that for her.

This Damon Salvatore they spoke about didn't feel real. If he was, why wasn't he here for her? Why had he let her get hurt so much?

Her body settling, the pain that had been overall agony was now focused to arm.

Maybe Elena Gilbert deserved this, but she certainly didn't.

It was Marcel who came up to comfort her. Not Elijah or Klaus.

In her haste to hide her breakdown, she hadn't locked the door. So, Marcel got the full view of her curled on the bed, back to the headboard and her knees drawn to her chest.

"Hey," he said gently.

She didn't say anything, only moving her head slightly to watch him so he wouldn't catch her by surprise. At this point, she wasn't sure if these people would actually hurt her.

"So…" Marcel drawled. Slowly, he approached, as if not to startle her the same way one would treat a skittish animal. "Klaus' an asshole."

Name calling didn't feel like her thing, but she silently agreed.

"I wish I could say he's only bark and no bite, but he isn't. Not to his enemies."

That got her. "And I'm his enemy. Or, Elena Gilbert was."

"Imagine if you were looking at the face of the person who killed your brothers," Marcel tried.

"Brother_s_? As in plural?" she demanded in alarm.

Marcel winced. "'Yeah, but Finn was trying to kill them at the time, so it kind of cancels out? I don't. He's only bitter about Kol."

"He says he killed my aunt."

Marcel's lips tightened into a thin line. "From what I hear, Klaus and Mystic Falls have a bloody history."

"But I didn't do anything," she said passionately. She even straightened into a normal sitting position. "I don't want to be enemies with anyone. I don't want be Elena Gilbert." She then added quietly. "Even if I am."

Like he understood, Marcel nodded. He took a moment to look around the room she'd holed up in. It was becoming clear he didn't know what to say.

"What if you don't have to be?" he said finally.

"What?"

"You clearly don't like the person you were before losing your memories," Marcel explained. He looked enlightened by his own idea. "Physically, you're Elena. And until you get your mind back, you're like a new, different person. Take advantage of that. Everyone hopes they could wipe away the sins of their past. They get drunk and high to try to forget them. As horrible as it might sound, make the best of this."

Being Elena, or remembering who she was, was impossible. She'd only been awake and aware for two days, but she didn't share the same personality as her past self. Becoming a new person, her own person, sounded more appealing by the second.

"I don't want to be called Elena," she announced. "It doesn't feel right. It doesn't' feel like...me. Like there's another person out there, called Elena and living her violent life."

Marcel smiled. "You have the world in the palm of your hands. Let me know what you like to be called and I'll put you down in my contacts."

"You're so nice, you know that," she said, smiling. "You're the only person who can make me smile."

"You're pretty fucking sweet, too," Marcel said. "Elijah doesn't make you smile? I heard you spent the night with him." He lowered his voice as if teasing about a secret.

She shook her head, blushing. "Elijah makes me feel safe. Protected. But not anymore."

"About that," he said. "Elijah is a different kind of asshole, but I know for a fact that he cares about you. He just feels like taking you back to your friends is the best option for you. And you don't want to be here anyway. Have you seen this compound? It's depressing."

"My friends," she echoed, then smiled shyly. "That feels weird. I almost don't believe it."

"You better believe it. Apparently, they're the best kind. Would die for you."

She made her decision then. If Klaus and Elijah didn't want her, she'd find somewhere she was welcome, not just tolerated out of politeness.

"Would you find them for me?" she asked of Marcel.

"I won't stop until I do."

"You're a fucking bastard."

Klaus' eyes flashed in anger at Marcel, who was coming down the stairs after leaving Elena's room. Instead of defending himself, because he knew what he had done, he mumbled, "It's for the best."

"You just don't want to take responsibility," Marcel accused. "Klaus, it's your fucking name on her skin. I can't even begin to think what the symbols on her back mean. They look ancient."

"Of course they do. Magic is _ancient_ in its essence." Klaus snorted meanly. "I'll try Mystic Falls again. If they don't answer, I'll look for a friendly witch to translate the symbols."

"You massacred all the nice witches," Marcel quipped, but Klaus paid him no mind except for a half-hearted growl as he shoved back his chair and started to pace the floor.

"I can try Davina," Marcel said as a suggestment after some time of useless pacing. "If there's magic involved, she'll know what to do. Even do a tracking spell to find Elena's friends. She wants to find them, you know"

For unfathomable reasons, Klaus didn't like that. Sure, yeah, bring the witch. It was the part about her friends that irked. They'd come to his city and snatch Elena away, while he remained the villain. Of course they'd blame him for her injuries.

There was also the matter of her blood that made him hesitant to simply let her go.

Elena was _human _again. A living doppelganger who could make as many hybrid as he wished. He could make another army to take down the werewolves, or really anyone who posed a threat. Morally standing, he'd never use his daughter to make hybrids. No way in hell. Was he a hypocrite for not holding Elena to the same standard?

"Niklaus, I can hear you plotting from over here," Elijah called him out.

Was he that obvious? "It's nothing. We'll make Davina help. Hopefully by this time tomorrow, Damon Salvatore will be on a plane to pick up his girlfriend and she won't be our problem anymore."

"Aren't you curious about your name?"

"It's driving me mad," Klaus confessed reluctantly. "Soon enough the truth will come out, and whoever did this will pay. Easy as that. I hate to admit it, but her friends are rather resourceful. The Bennett witch will surely figure it out, and she's more experienced than Davina."

Elijah rolled his eyes. "When has anything ever been easy for us?"

"Hello."

She tried to conjure up fear from Elijah, but didn't find any. Just disappointment.

Like Marcel did earlier, Elijah was respectful as he came further into the room. This time, she was sitting on a chair near the window, watching the street outside.

"Marcel's going to find my friends," she proclaimed. A malicious side of her, maybe it was Elena, enjoyed the startled look on Elijah's face.

"I know," Elijah said. "He has a witch friend that could help."

"Davina Claire."

"Yes, she's a very powerful witch," he said. "She's been through a lot. You two might make friends."

A female friend. Yes, she realized she longed for that.

"I came to express my apologies," Elijah said formally. "We never consulted you before trying to contact your friends. If you want, you don't have to."

"What do you mean?" Not talk to her friends? Shouldn't she, out of decency, let them know she was alive?

"What I'm saying is," Elijah said, "that you're welcome here. You don't have to go back to Mystic Falls."

She started to frown. "But Klaus-"

"Klaus often speaks out of anger before logic," Elijah said. "He's...jaded, doesn't trust easily. I suppose we all are, but Niklaus has suffered so much lately, more than us. In his mind, he thinks it's his fault someone did this to you, even if he'd let you go months ago. He's trying to escape the responsibility, the pain. He was drunk last night, and he saw the face of two girls who had hurt him in the past. And Klaus doesn't just get angry, he _rages_."

His rage was understandable, familiar even. If she remembered her aunt, she might've done the same. What she didn't get, however, was-

"And you?"

He looked surprised. "What about me?"

"What's your past with Elena Gilbert and Katherina Pierce?" she asked, revealing a theory that had been swimming around in her head all day. She adjusted herself, drawing her knee up to her chest and resting her chin on top. "I think they've hurt you."

Anyone with a trained eye would've seen how uncomfortable her statement was to him.

"How did you come to that conclusion?" he asked stiffly.

"The way you look at me," she said. "Like when you walked in to Klaus holding me up against the wall last night, you first instinct was to protect and hold me. Afterwards, you were awkward, even made me feel unwanted. Then you held me all night and kissed my head and told me everything was alright. This morning, you were willing- _wanted _me gone. So what is it? Did you like Katherine and hate Elena? Or was it the opposite?"

"You're very clever, you know that?"

"I think it's the doppelganger thing," she half-heartedly joked. From her minimal arsonal of knowledge, it seemed like doppelgangers were a menace more than anything.

"It's a _you _thing." From how he looked at her, she knew it was a Katherine and Elena thing too. He heaved a heavy sigh at her expression. "The truth is going to...unnerve you."

"More than the ritualistic symbols on my back?"

Elijah pursed his lips. "Promise you won't think of me differently?"

She wasn't completely honest when she answered, "I promise."

Recounting his past didn't begin with neither Katherine nor Elena, but with Tatia, a thousand years ago. He explained that it was crucial to understand their origins so she could understand how her ancestors and her were cursed to his family.

From him and Klaus loving Tatia, to their brother Henrik's death, werewolves and Klaus' true parentage, and then the spell their mother used to turn them into vampires. The Hybrid curse. Remorse made him avert his gaze away as he explained that a doppelganger had to be sacrificed to break Klaus' curse.

"Klaus' curse is broken, isn't it?"

Elijah frowned, cleared his throat. "Yes." Did it count for anything that he sounded apologetic? Probably not.

She swallowed hard. The curse was broken; that meant another one of them had died at the hands of the man lurking downstairs, waiting to ship her off.

"What was her name?" Knowing the girl's name was going to make her sad, she was sure of it, but she wanted to respect her.

"Elena Gilbert."

Now, she had officially heard that name too much. "H-how?"

"I'll get to that. First, we need to discuss Katherine."

And what a horrible person Katerina Petrova turned out to be. At the beginning of her story, she had felt sympathy and horror for the girl. Her tragic life, being pursued by Klaus. Her heart gave out when Elijah admitted to having loving her

"I admit," Elijah confessed. "There was a time- I might've loved her. I always held back because I knew my brother would use her the next full moon. When she ran away from the ritual days before it happened and turned into a vampire to escape her fate, I pursued her like Klaus did. Put a bounty on her head, hunted her to make her pay for the damage she'd done."

"The damage being...breaking your heart?"

"And ruining Klaus' first chance of breaking the curse."

Anger spiked in her, electrifying in her veins. She felt unreasonable- or maybe well-earned rage at them both. Klaus and Elijah.

"You claim to be heartbroken," she said through grinding teeth. "Yet you were willing to let her be _sacrificed_ by your brother? And how could he have planned to kill a woman he knew his brother loved? How could he have planned to murder an innocent person for his own cause?"

The first signs of something other than calmness appeared in Elijah's eyes. "I didn't plan to let her die. I procured an elixir to ensure her coming back to life."

"But you planned to let her die in the first place."

"Katerina was selfish," Elijah finally snapped. "She didn't just pretend to love me, she did the same with Niklaus. She should've trusted me. Instead, she ran off and condemned two people and herself to a life of hiding."

"Running away when a mad man wanted to sacrifice her wasn't selfish, and she didn't deserve to be hunted down like a criminal for having _survived_. Tell me, if you found out someone wanted to kill you to break some curse, wouldn't you run?"

He didn't answer. From what Marcel and even Elijah had revealed, they had all been through something this past year. Something that had shaken them.

"Someone tried to kill you last year, didn't they? You said you've been through a lot," she concluded. "Did you lay down and let them? Or did you fight with everything you had, tooth and nail, to prevent it?"

"We have all done terrible things, Elena," Elijah said. "Katherina included. After turning into a vampire, she spent the next five centuries killing innocents. She delivered the next doppelganger to us. Betrayed her own family and anyone who was foolish enough to help her."

There was the horrible part about Katherine. While she couldn't defend Katherine's later actions, she would defend her decision to run away before someone killed her.

"I don't know if you've noticed it yet," Elijah continued. "But we have never claimed to be the good guys. When you have lived for as we have, for a thousand years, morality hinders your survival and progress."

"Do all vampires think this way? Or just your family?" she asked.

"The majority, yes"

"But not you." She was almost desperate for him to understand, for it to be proven true. "You're good, Elijah. I can see that. A bad man wouldn't save me, let me stay in his home, hold me all night when I was scared and promise to keep me safe. A bad man wouldn't offer to help me, even after knowing I was only going to bring trouble for your family."

How strange was it, that she'd arrived thinking Klaus was going to be her savior, but the complete opposite happened. Just a few minutes ago, she'd been convinced Elijah was as villainous as Klaus. What he said about his history happened decades ago, and he looked changed now. Wiser.

"I hope so." Was his formal reply. Apparently done with their conversation, he adjusted his tie. "I think that's enough storytelling for now. Tomorrow, I'll tell you the rest. Let me know what you decide you want to do. Your friends are going to see our missed calls. We won't pursue them anymore, but if they call back, we'll have to let them know you're here, safe, and whether you stay with us or go back to Mystic Falls is entirely your decision."

Staying was scary and uncertain, but going to an entirely strange town with people who had known her previously was scarier. She didn't have much experience in her lifetime, but she wanted people to treat her like Marcel had. He probably only did so because he hadn't known her from before, but it was still nice.

"Can I sleep on it tonight?"

"Take as long as you need," Elijah offered. He made to leave but was stopped by her quickly calling his name.

"Is there any food left from what Marcel brought earlier?" An hour ago, her stomach had started to rumble again.

"No, unfortunately no," Elijah said. "But we sent for groceries. I can make you something." Was he hesitant?

"That would be amazing, thank you." she smiled. "Hey, if you teach me how to cook, I can make my own meals and I wouldn't have to bother you."

Elijah smiled back. A teensy, tiny, little upturn of his lips, but it was a milestone. "We'll see. For now, I'm happy to be of service."

After he left, she flopped down on her bed and laid on her back. Things with Elijah and Marcel were resolved for now. No grudges or hard feelings. She would even dare to say they liked her? Elijah's old flame with Katherine was a problem of interest. She didn't know if that was going to help her or throw him off in case he decided she couldn't be trusted.

With those two temporarily settled, there was also the matter of Klaus too.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE:**

Yesterday had been a nightmare. After the delicious pasta dinner Elijah had made, Marcel left and she retired to her newly claimed room. Klaus was mysteriously missing, but when no one made a comment about it, she didn't either.

The trouble started when Elijah bid her goodnight at her doorstep and left her alone. The weather in June in New Orleans was notoriously rainy, as Marcel had quiped at dinner, and that night was eerily similar to the one before.

She'd huddled under her blankets, reminding herself over and over again that she was under a dry roof, protected by ancient and powerful vampires, and has a _boyfriend_. But it was hard to keep a healthy, coherent string of thoughts when the world was shouting and screeching at her. At the first thunder, she let out a small yelp. The second rumble was much scarier and startled her into a scream.

Like the knight he claimed not to be, Elijah burst into her room a split moment later, two seconds after Klaus did.

"It's the storm," she whimpered immediately, both explaining herself and to stop them from raiding her room for intruders. She caught a glimpse of Klaus' eye roll before hiding her face in her knees, hugging herself. There was a whispered exchange between the two brothers before footsteps left the room.

A hand cupped her wrist, making her sharply drawing her head up in alarm. Elijah sat on the bed by her gathered knees, the most open expression on his face.

"There was a storm," he said tentatively. "For hours last night, just before you arrived."

She nodded her head jerkily, impressed at how he quickly figured out what was wrong.

"You've barely told us what happened," he said. "We've gathered that you had to walk all those miles in the rain?"

"And the lightning," she continued for him, feeling helpless. "And the thunder. I thought I was going to die," she finished on a whisper. Her hand clenched into her hair in frustration. "And I think it's stupid, that I'm so scared right now when it can't touch me."

"You're not stupid," Elijah countered instantly. "Fear is often inconvenient, but never stupid. You've just gone through tremendous trauma only a day ago."

"Is that what it was? What I should say it was?" she asked. "Trauma?"

Exhaling, he shook his head. "None of us can understand what you've gone through, but we know something about being afraid. When we were young, we had to hide in caves during big storms because our huts couldn't withstand them. The caves echoed, and we had to stay in the danky, loud, and overcrowded tunnels until morning came."

"A thousand years ago."

Another lightning strike lit up the entire room for a moment. Elijah's sharp features standing out stark against the dark background of the room. He looked terrifying for a second, as if the universe was reminding her to be afraid.

A moment's silence passed before thunder angrily rumbled. Like the scared little girl she felt like, she whimpered, "_Elijah_."

Like she'd caught him at a weak moment, he faltered. He opened his arms to her, even guided her to his embrace.

The world continued to be angry for a few more hours. Elijah held her through it all. Sometimes, he would add to her comfort by kissing the side of her head or forehead. Once, during a particularly violent strike, he flinched as well.

"I'll keep you safe," he whispered some time in the night later. He was nuzzling her neck at this point, and both of them liked it. Starting a goosebumps trail all over her body, he pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder. "I won't fail you."

All that talk about the powerful Davina Claire made her think she was an older, respectable lady of a sort, dressed in black maybe. The teenager that walked into the compound the next morning, steam coming out of her ears, was unexpected.

"I'm only helping because Marcel asked me to," she announced without prompt. "And because there's an innocent girl involved."

Her scorn seemed to be directly aimed at a smirking Klaus, who stood upstairs against the railway. Something told her he didn't find her anger amusing, that it was a show.

"And thank you for doing this." Marcel walked in after her. He stood in front of her to block either her or Klaus' view of each other. "Davina, meet...Elena." He remembered her desire not to be called that, but didn't know what else to do.

Davina looked at her. They were a distance away, but the young witch evaluated her from head to toe to her hand clutching at Elijah's.

"Come on," Elijah mumbled. He squeezed her hand reassuringly and guided her somewhat reluctant feet to meet the witch. "Has Marcel caught you up?"

"Yes. Mostly. He doesn't seem to understand much of it anyway." Davina blamed Klaus for Marcel being out of the loop with a pointed glare upstairs.

"None of us do," Elijah recovered smoothly. "That's why we asked you to be here. Elena?"

She regarded Davina. "Can you help me?" She didn't want to underestimate Davina, but she looked as fearsome as a squirrel.

"Show me the symbols first." Davina drew her chin up higher.

In order to do that, she had to let go of Elijah's hand. Bravely, or at least she tried to act like it, she went to Davina. In her mind, she copied the most confident person she knew. Klaus. Marcel walked with too swagger, and Elijah too stiffly. Klaus strolled leisurely when he walked, and he _lounged _when he sat.

Face to face with Davina, she saw how pretty she was, and she decided to smile. If Marcel, her first savior, thought this witch was trustworthy, then so did she. Marcel!

"Marcel!" she said suddenly, making his eyes widen. "I forgot to greet you." She closed the distance between them as he was standing right there next to Davina, and gave him a quick hug followed by a chaste peck on the cheek.

He was grinning when she pulled, contagious so. "Hello to you, too."

She grinned back. "Hi."

"Can we get on with this?" Elijah interfered, his tone biting Like he'd appeared out of nowhere, he was at her back. "Elena, your shirt."

Davina moved as if to protest but was stopped by Marcel. "It's fine. They're on her back. There's no way around it."

"It's really okay," she said to reassure the younger girl. In fact, shame or self-consciousness hadn't crossed her mind, not even when Elijah had found her in the shower. "Elijah?" she mimicked his tone from when he'd called her name a moment ago.

Marcel smiled. Elijah cleared his throat. "Yes."

Turning her back to them, her eyes connected with Klaus. The smile was gone from his face, replaced by a severe frown. Did he hate her? She'd ask him or Elijah later. As far as she could tell, lack of social awareness included, she should be the one to hate him. Not the opposite.

Unnervingly, Klaus didn't look away. Then in a flash of movement, he joined the rest of them behind her back.

Davina's gasp affected her. It didn't hurt, not like the _Klaus _brand did, but her reaction worried her.

"You have no clue who did this?" Davina asked, her tone almost scandalized.

"No," Klaus contributed, his voice hard. "Do you know what they mean?"

"They don't look like anything I've seen before," Davina said. "Whoever did this used dark, _dark_, old magic. I can feel the bad energy coming off her back. Whoever did this was angry. But it's healed, so it's been done a long time ago. Maybe weeks or a couple of months."

"We figured that," Elijah said. When he came in her line of vision, she breathed out in relief. His mere presence calmed her. "This is appears to be new, however."

Meaning her wrist. She deliberately ignored Davina when they showed her the brand on her wrist.

"This was meant against you?" Her furious accusation was directed at Klaus. "What did you do this time? Why involve an innocent girl?"

"Watch your tone," Klaus warned in a calm, deadly voice. "And she's not exactly innocent either."

"She has also lost her memory," Elijah added. "Another thing that requires your attention. Can you check if there's been any magical tempering with her mind? Everything seems too deliberate."

"Deliberate how?"

"Klaus' name branded on her skin, the strange symbols, how she woke up alone. Most of her scars are healed, which means she's been held for a long time. Held where exactly, we don't know."

"The cemetery," she said.

Everyone turned to her.

"What?" Marcel asked, coming forward. "What cemetery?"

"It's where I woke up," she explained, now wary. She hadn't expected a reaction from them. "I woke up inside a building, but when I went out, it was filled with graves. Old ones, the names on the tombstones were practically gone."

"Why didn't you mention this before?" Klaus bit out.

There was that self-consciousness she was worried about. "I didn't think it was important."

Elijah tugged her away from Klaus' sharp expression. "Is there anything else you've left out?" he asked gently.

"Umm…" she carefully thought over the traumatizing hours she'd spent making her way here. She didn't want to, but she didn't want to disappoint Elijah and Marcel either. "Oh! I heard wolves howling somewhere on the road."

"Werewolves?" Davina asked Marcel. "That part of Louisiana?"

"Maybe," Marcel answered. "It's not a part of New Orleans pack territory. I'll have some guys check it out tomorrow."

As they discussed further plans and growled theories about witches and werewolves alliances, Davina went back around to see the symbols again.

"I think this one looks a bit familiar," Davina said after a while of studying them. The boys silenced and went to look at the one she was gesturing at. "I'm not sure. I'll have to bring my grimoire to check, but you're not going to like what my theory is."

For a moment, Klaus stood side by side with the witch sworn to hate him. She couldn't see his face, but she imagined its severity by the lowly growl he made, "What is it?"

"It's a resurrection symbol."

"_Resurrection_?" demanded Klaus, incredulous. "As in she died and was brought back?"

Pain, or something similar, flashed across Davina's expression. "I think so, yes."

"It does explain the vampirism thing," Elijah said. He shifted as he put his hands in his pockets. "Maybe she died and the Salvatores and the Bennett witch brought her back?"

"And the brand on her arm?" growled Klaus. He mocked, "What, did Damon Salvatore carve it himself?"

"What if there's more than her friends involved in this?" Marcel therorized. "Her friends brought her back, but then she was taken?"

"I _died_?" she blurted out, almost whimpering. Those wretched tears that made an appearance at the least convenient times started clogging her throat. She backed away a few steps, ignoring Elijah's outstretched hand.

"We don't know that yet," Elijah soothed. He overlooking her ignoring him and crossed the distance himself to take her hand. "Everything we say is useless, theories," Elijah said. "We can only deal with facts at the moment. Are we sure she died in the first place, Davina?"

"I said it _looks _like a resurrection symbol. It's unlike anything I've seen before." Was Davina's reply. She looked concerned, maybe even personally invested in the resurrection thing.

"Well then," Elijah said. "We'll come back to that later. Davina, will you be kind enough to do a locator spell? We're trying to find Elena's brother."

Davina's brows furrowed in her direction. "Sure. I'll need candles, a map, and some of Elena's blood."

They set up on one of the tables by the sofas. Elijah had already prepared the stuff in anticipation of Davina's arrival. Davina laid out the map, and started mumbling words under her breath.

A shiver ransacked her whole body. Earlier, she'd thought magic was cool, amazing even. Now, witnessing it, she saw how eerie it was. How unnatural. Davina was helping her, but she was growing scared of the witch.

She jumped when Elijah came up from behind her. He frowned at her reaction but didn't comment on it.

"I want a drop of your blood," Davina told her. "It will only be a prick. When the blood drops to the map, I'll say the spell and it should point us to your brother. I might even be able to get a message to him if you like."

She could talk to her brother? Fear put aside, but not forgotten, she dropped to her knees besides Davina and willingly offered her hand.

The knife that Elijah put out had her gulping anxiously. They were going to cut her with that?

"It's alright, Elena," Elijah, sensing her fear, said. "It will be worth it when we find Jeremy."

They were looking at each other, his sure gaze offering security for her. If Elijah wasn't scared, neither should she. They kept eye contact as Davina took her cold hand, as she whimpered when her finger was sliced into and squeezed to generate more blood, and until she got up and went for a hug, because this was all too much for her.

Davina spared them a quizzical look before focusing on her task. She began murmuring the spell. The air in the room shifted as they all watched her. It felt like the magic being called upon was intruding on this room, something they shouldn't have invited in. Was that just her or did the rest of them feel it?

Fear. Primal fear like a prey that feared the predator that had hunted her for a lifetime, like the doppelganger blood in her veins was freezing and turning to ice.

"Elena?" Elijah asked, concerned for her reaction. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head, then repeated the action, stumbling back a few steps. "Doesn't feel right," she croaked.

"What?" Elijah said. He looked at Davina and then back to her. "Magic?"

"_Yes_." she swallowed hard. "It feels...familiar. And it's always hurt."

It didn't hurt, it _burned_. Like hot coal pressed to her back, like acid doused on her skin and above all, strange incantations shouted over her.

"Is that a memory?" Marcel questioned.

She shrugged, even though it felt like she was going to fall over. "It's a feeling."

"Hey, guys?" Davina said loudly. She was leaning back, looking confused. "It didn't work."

"What do you mean it didn't work?" Klaus demanded. He'd been standing silent all this time, and now that there was conflict to be argued over, he was the first volunteer. "How? You're supposed to be one of the most powerful witches in New Orleans."

"I don't know," Davina snapped. "Her blood didn't react at all. It's practically stained the table."

"Try again," Klaus commanded.

Davina took in a deep breath. "Elena?"

"I don't want to anymore," she refused. She wanted to escape this room and stop breathing the magic.

"You don't want to find your brother?" Marcel probbed. "He's got to be worried sick about you."

That idea made her grimace. Of course she wanted to find her brother, her only family. She toughened up and nodded, raising her chin up to mimic Davina's bravery from earlier.

This time, as Davina cut her hand, Elijah held her other. The air was tenser in this attempt. As her blood dripped over the old, drying puddle, Davina cast the locator spell.

Mystified, they watched as her blood moved as if it had a mind of its own. It moved for barely a second before stopping, as if it had given it its best shot.

"What the hell?" Davina wondered. "Give me your hand again."

"No, that's enough." Surprisingly, it was Klaus who said this. "Tell us what it means. Is Jeremy dead?"

"I don't know. The spell, it feels like-" Davina looked frustrated at herself. "It's like it's not cooperating with me."

"Any idea why?" Marcel asked.

Davina hesitated. She looked up and saw her she was practically huddled against Elijah. Pity or a soft emotion crossed her face. "Your blood reacts as if it doesn't know Jeremy. I know he's not your real brother, but a cousin. It should still work as long as he's family. _This_? Yours and Jeremy's blood are strangers."

"No, I know for a fact that Bonnie Bennett used a locator spell with Elena' blood countless of times," Klaus said.

"He might be dead, but I don't think so. I think this means," Davina said, inhaling sharply with anticipation. "Whoever you are, Jeremy's not your family." She smiled grimly. "And you're not Elena Gilbert."


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX:**

In a blur of movements, Elijah stopped Klaus from lunging at her and threw him to the other side of the room. Marcel came to stand in front of her, one arm back as if to keep her from racing to the two violent vampires.

"That's fucking _Katherine Pierce_!" Klaus snarled. "I should have had her head cut off the moment she walked into my home."

She gasped out loud. If his reaction to thinking she was Elena Gilbert was bad, it was nothing compared to this.

"Nothing has changed." Elijah didn't sound as calm as he should be. "She still has no memories. The marks on her back and your name are still there."

"You're only defending her because you're blind to her," Klaus snapped. "You loved her. She betrayed us, evade us, killed Jeremy bloody Gilbert and you loved her. She ran away before I could break my curse, and you still loved her."

"Katerina and I are over," Elijah said firmly. He cast an unreadable look in her direction. "This is about me protecting an innocent girl who's been wronged. Probably by someone _you _wronged."

"It's an act," Klaus said angrily. "No one plays the victim better than Katherine. Two days with us and she's got you and Marcel wrapped around her fingers."

She thought Elijah would have a smart retort in her defense, but when he fell silent, her stomach dropped. He believed what Klaus was saying.

"Hey, now." Thank God, Marcel jumped in. "Let's not make any assumptions. You're scaring her."

"Bloody right she should be scared." Klaus was coming her way determinedly with murderous eyes. "This is the last time I'll be fooled by-"

His phone came alive with a shrill ringing sound. She was pretty sure she'd jumped out of her skin when it did.

"It's the man I sent to Mystic Falls."

"I thought you were going to call Caroline and the Salvatores?" Elijah asked.

Klaus smiled humorlessly. "And have that Damon imbecile race here to whisk her away? Not a chance," he said. "It's my bloody name on her skin."

The possessiveness in his voice intrigued her. "Katherine or not?"

Why was he such an unnerving man? His head tilted to the side as he regarded her. She couldn't tell if he was planning to carefully listen to her or was planning to slit her throat.

"If I was Katherine," she said hesitantly. "What will you do with me?"

He looked her up and down. At all the Katherine features she had, at all the righteous Elena personality Elijah claimed she had. Eventually, he rolled his eyes.

"Don't let her get away," he told Marcel. Her eyes widened. Should she be running away?

"Yes?" Klaus said into the phone, keeping Katherine in his line of vision. "What have you found?"

His hired- and compelled to secrecy vampire/detective sighed. "You called in the middle of the night, Klaus. I hopped on the first flight-"

"I do not care," Klaus proclaimed. "Is Elena Gilbert there?"

He sighed again. "No. As far as I could tell, actually, she's dead."

Klaus froze. His eyes were stuck to...Katherine's. She looked scared and confused.

"I asked around town," his vampire continued. "No one's seen her for almost a month and a half. Her friends wear black. I even found her grave."

Irritation crawled inside Klaus' throat. "That sounds pretty dead to me, Tony."

The doppelganger in the room with them gasped. Marcel turned to face her, starting to whisper reassurances to her as if that would stop Klaus if he decided to break her neck when he finished the call.

"Yeah, well." Tony cleared his throat awkwardly. "I did what you asked of me. Oh, and I even called her house to declare she won an award and the guy who answered, who was seriously rude, told me she hasn't been there for a long time before he hung up."

"That sounds like Damon Salvatore," Klaus said. He met Elijah's gaze. As brothers, they almost always understood each other. "Hey, Tony. One more favor. Check out Katherine Pierce's grave."

He rattled off the location he had memorised. When one of his enemies died, he tended to send someone to make sure they were down for good. Katherine Pierce had an impact on his life, negative of course, but she was a significant manipulator. After all, she was the one who had led him to New Orleans and to Hayley and Hope.

"You want me to do what exactly?" Tony asked.

"It's very simple," Klaus said slowly. "I want you to dig up her grave and make sure the body's still there."

"...I don't know," Tony said. "I don't feel-"

"I'll double your salary if you do it," Klaus enticed. "Or I'll kill you girlfriend if you don't. Fair deal?" He didn't allow him to answer, just hung up.

Now, he set his eyes on Katherine.

She looked about ready to bolt out of here. Marcel acted like he was comforting her, but he was also keeping her here. Did she realize that? He thought she didn't. Despite naivety being the opposite of Katherine's traits, this girl right here was certainly clueless to the ways of the world. Last night, she'd crawled into the arms of a killer, believing he wouldn't hurt her.

He wondered how that was going to play out. Elijah and Katherine. Would he go back to loving her?

What was Klaus himself going to do? Kick her out.

"This changes nothing." He was the one to say that now. "First, we find out about Katherine's grave. If she's there, we'll know you're Elena and just missing. Jeremy's probably dead." Would they have to let her go? "If she's not, we'll assume someone brought Katherine back to life and guided her to us."

"Then what?" Marcel asked.

"Then-" Klaus took small, measured steps towards her. Marcel let go of her, maybe to give her a fair running chance. "We find out who did this and bring them to a very painful ending. And if I discover she has anything to do with this, that she's more than a victim, I'll kill her myself. One doppelganger is one too many in the world."

Waiting for Tony's call was nerve wracking. Marcel drove Davina home a while later. As they hugged goodbye, Davina whispered in her ear that she had her back. Marcel essentially did the same, except a bit restrained.

He was the one to kiss her cheek this time. "See you later, wildcard." He winked. "I'll finally know your real name."

After they left, there was no buffer to stand between her and the Mikaelson siblings.

"Are you going to hurt me?" she asked quietly, not addressing anyone in particular. She figured she'd lost Elijah's trust. Her very identity appalled them both.

"That depends," Klaus said nonchalantly. He strolled to the sofa Davina had been sitting down and comfortably took up enough room for two. "You're still a curiosity."

Like a zoo animal, she thought. Elijah moved past her to sit down, drawing her eyes to him while he avoided her.

"How long does it take to dig up a grave?" she said, trying to put a timer on her life.

Klaus knew that, and he was smug about it. She noticed that while he was in control of the situation, he was relaxed, even looked like he was having a good time. The drunken, angry man was gone. This was one scarier, more calculating.

"For a vampire, no time at all. He just has to find the spot."

"Sit down, Ele-" Elijah stopped. "Sit. Standing and pacing won't help."

Too nervous to think of anything else, she took the farthest seat away from Klaus, which wasn't far at all.

"If I turn out to be her," she said after a few minutes. "I'm sorry that you feel hurt by her action, but don't punish me for them."

They looked at her in two different ways. Elijah was unreadable, and Klaus was predatorial. A predator that wanted to kill her, nothing more.

She continued, "I'm sure you've both done much worse things."

Klaus' brow furrowed almost humorously. "That's it?" he demanded. "That's your apology? I'm curious to hear about your version of apology if you turn out to be Elena."

At first she was ready to argue that there was no need, but she remembered his brothers, Kol and Finn. Yes, Elijah had told her about Finn last night after the weather had calmed down. "I'm sorry that your brothers are gone. I'm sure they were bad people too."

Klaus barked a laugh. "You're going out guns blazing, aren't you? Feeling like you're going to die bring out the honesty in you. Please, tell me more."

She narrowed her eyes at the challenge. "You're the worst person I've ever met."

His lips twitched. "You've met four people in your lifetime, sweetheart."

"And you're the worst," she persisted. "And I thought you were going to help me. I walked miles in terrifying weather to find you. But first thing you did was hurt me. You were supposed to help me, but you _hurt _me." All her anger and sadness took shape in her voice cracking. She clenched her jaw and closed her hands into tight fists to dig her nails into her palms. Anything not to cry in front of them.

At least Klaus looked affected.

His phone rang. He couldn't answer it fast enough.

On speaker, Tony's voice was clear in the room. He was panting. "There's no body. It even looks freshly dug up."

Her heart stuttered in her chest. What did that mean?

"Katherine's gone?" Klaus asked for clarification. "Are you sure it's her grave?"

"Yep, same address and plot you gave me," Tony answered. "Do you want me to do anything else, boss?" His tone was biting, and she remembered that Klaus had threatened his girlfriend.

"No, you're dismissed," Klaus said. A shiver ransacked her body when his startling blue eyes fell on her. "Go home for now. I'll call you if I have a use for you."

He put his phone aside, and she was ready to run the hell out of New Orleans and back into the cemetery she crawled out of.

"Now," he said, almost murmuring. "Who the hell are you?"

"So, which doppelganger is she?" Marcel asked. He'd come back later to get caught up.

Klaus blew out a breath. "We don't know. Elena and Katherine are both dead and missing. The girl we have here has resurrection symbols on her back. She could be either of them. Davina's spell might have failed because Jeremy might also be dead."

Elijah, who was pouring himself some whiskey, increased the amount of alcohol in his glass. "What if she isn't?"

Klaus shifted to look at him. "How so?"

"She might be entirely new."

Knocking back his shot, Elijah poured another but decided to sit down. His eyes strayed, probably thinking of the doppelganger upstairs in her room. Last they heard, she was crying almost silently.

"How is that possible?" Marcel said. "I thought you said her kind comes every five centuries or so."

"It's not an exact science," Elijah said. He stared at the bottom of his glass. "This is magic we're talking about. What if someone forced it?"

"Still doesn't explain her marks," Klaus said. "Why would anyone write my name on her like that? Who had her?"

"And it looks violent," Marcel said. "Whoever carved her wanted your name to stick, not heal."

Klaus growled, letting out a long suffering sigh. "I'm getting tired of the mysteries. I want some bloody answers."

"We know she's innocent," Marcel mapped out. "She's been hurt. There's no real way of knowing who she is, is there?"

Both Klaus and Elijah shook their heads.

"Unless she somehow regains her memories, we might never find out," Elijah said, grim.

"We also know she doesn't trust Klaus, but she trusts Elijah and me."

"No, she doesn't," Elijah interjected. "Earlier, I reacted by _not _reacting. I kept my distance. She looks at me like I betrayed her." He drank the rest of the whiskey.

Marcel and Klaus didn't have anything to say. Each of them had reacted in their own unique way, the most violent being Klaus.

Klaus got up, took a shot of what Elijah was having, and left the room.

"You picked a lovely room."

She forced herself not to react to Klaus' presence, even though he made every cell in her body come alive under fire.

"Your balcony has one of the best views in the compound," he conversed as if they were old friends, or acquaintances getting to know each other more. She eyed him warily from the bed.

His eyes left hers and looked around them. He paused on the suitcase she'd found deep in the closet. It was empty, but the attempt was clear. Running away seemed like a good option now, preferable to live in contempt with people who hated her face and what it had done.

However, he didn't comment on it. "Have you had a chance to watch the sunrise yet?" Sunrise was half an hour away.

What was wrong with him? Was he up to something or was he being friendly? The former was more plausible and the absurdity of the latter was laughable.

"No," she answered maturely, humoring him. "I wasn't sure if I was allowed outside."

He frowned. "Of course you're allowed to look out of your balcony. You're not a bird in a cage."

"That's exactly what I feel like," she said, then shrugged. "I get it though. Someone did this to me, and they might come after me again. It's why I haven't tried to get out or anything."

Klaus regarded her thoughtfully. "Would you like to step outside with me?"

Truthfully, she'd been wanting to look at the city since she'd taken camp in this room. Rational fear for her life made her falter, but she knew Klaus was the worst monster in the city. And he'd be by her side.

His gaze went over her bare legs as she was dressed in shorts and a top from Rebekah's closet. He even offered her his hand when they came close. Like a gentleman, he opened the balcony french doors for her and let her pass first.

"Whoa," she thought out loud. First thought that came to her head was how bright it was. Like the festival. Now that she was on a second floor, it was more manageable. "It's so bright."

"I love New Orleans," Klaus told her. He wasn't looking below like she was. In her peripheral vision, she thought he might be looking at her. "It's one of my favorite cities in the world."

"What are the others?" Different cities and continents seemed so far out of reach that it made her thirsty for any knowledge about them. Klaus didn't seem to have any ill intent so far, so make conversation she would.

"Paris," he said immediately. "It's a bit cliche, but it's worth it. Milan, Rome, Venice, the list is long."

"That must be nice," she said. "Having been to all those places."

"It gets boring after a while," he told her. "Eventually, you want to settle down. Travel wears heavy on a person's soul. That brought us to New Orleans in the 1920s."

She hid her gasp. "You were here in 1920? That's such a long time ago. Why did you leave?"

The look on his face darkened. "I was driven out, but that's a different story. I also thought Marcel was dead. Before we left, we ruled the city, my siblings and I. Afterwards, I hated the idea of settling anywhere else, so I continued to travel. Eventually, I made my way to Mystic Falls, where I met Elena."

"Whom you killed," she pointed out.

He actually grimaced. "Yes, I did. It was a means to an end. And she didn't die. She rose up and tried to kill me and my family several times. Succeeded for two. My sister, Rebekah, was the reason why she turned into a vampire. So there's a bit of a grudge there."

Ah, Rebekah. The girl with the awesome wardrobe. "I haven't met your sister yet. Where is she?"

"She's away at the moment," he said, almost too quickly. His face turned sorrowful for a moment before he smoothed over any real emotion.

"What's going to happen tomorrow?"

Klaus frowned. God help her, he looked concerned? "Nothing's going to happen."

Her smile was humorless. "I think you know the odds are that I'm Katherine. And you hate her."

"That's true," he acknowledged. "But as you've said, I think you haven't done anything wrong yet. You're like a clean slate."

Did he really think that? It almost brought hope to her. And she almost bounced on her feet in excitement, which he noticed.

"Plus," he added. His tone was light. "Elijah has this theory that I've decided to stick with temporarily."

_Damn it, heart, slow down_, she told herself. "What is it?"

"He thinks you might be an entirely different doppelganger. New."

The possibility hadn't even crossed her mind. Could she find an identity outside of her predecessors?

"I've never related to Elena or Katherine. Not really," she confessed to Klaus. "I understood their actions, defended them, but I don't think I'll ever do what they did."

"Maybe it's because you're living with your bloodline's worst enemy, not running from him." He sounded almost playful.

She smiled. Klaus made her smile at that moment at her own craziness. It was too late to decide differently now about her stay. "Maybe."

Klaus pointed out that the sky had begun to change colors. For a few minutes, they watched as the dark blue lightened, and the sun peeked over from the building across the street.

"If you're not Elena, or Katherine," Klaus brought up. "What would you like to be called? We can't keep calling you 'that doppelganger' or 'girl' for the rest of our lives."

Her eyes widened excitedly. "I get to pick a name?"

Her conversation with Marcel came back to her. She disliked being called Elena. Deep down, maybe she'd known she wasn't really her.

"Oh Gosh," she said. "It's too much pressure. Do I need a baby name book or something?"

"Pick whatever you feel is appropriate. Something that suits you," Klaus said. In the brightening light, he smiled at her, then returned his attention to the sunrise. "What about Dawn?"

"Dawn," she repeated, testing it.

"It means a start for a new day. A new beginning." Klaus smiled slightly at her. She found out he had dimples. "Dawn."

_Dawn_. She had no last name, but she...liked it. Loved it even, its meaning.

"Alright," she decided.

"Alright?" Klaus repeated. "You're sure?"

"Yes. Call me Dawn," she demanded then. "I want to try it."

The corners of his mouth twitched into an amused arch. "Hello, Dawn. It's nice to meet you."

It felt fitting. So, she shook his outstretched hand and found herself smiling brightly. "It's nice to meet you too."


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN:**

Hours later, Elijah entered her bedroom to find her on the bed with Klaus. The hybrid was comfortably lounging against the pillows, and she was sitting in the center of the bed, her legs crossed.

Rendered speechless, Elijah remained in the doorway. _Well, good_. He was silent last night when Klaus was declaring his plans to kill her, he should be silent now as well.

"Brother," greeted Klaus. "What time is it?"

Elijah forced his gaze down to his watch abruptly. He cleared his throat. "A little after seven. I was coming to wake…"

He didn't know which name to address her with, if any.

"Dawn," Klaus supplied. "We- she's decided she wants to be called Dawn. It's not fair to stick her with what might be another girl's name."

"Dawn…" Elijah rolled her name on her tongue. "Hmm, it's a beautiful name. Very fitting, I suppose."

That was what she'd thought, but she didn't want to share their similarities out loud.

Klaus had figured out her resentment of Elijah's inaction last night during their talk. Was it last night? Did it count as this morning?

"Have you gotten any sleep?" Elijah asked, frowning.

"No," Klaus answered when she didn't. "We've lost track of time."

"Doing what? Talking?" Something like mockery tainted his voice.

"Yes, _talking_," Klaus mocked right back. "Something she seems not to be doing with you at the moment."

Turning to her, _Dawn_, Elijah frowned slightly. "You're not talking to me?"

"I don't like you anymore," she announced, narrowing her eyes at him. Klaus barked a laugh and stretched on the bed like it was the funniest thing ever. She glared at him too but he wasn't fazed.

From the regret on Elijah's face, he knew exactly why. "I understand. And I came here to apologize."

She made her eyes widen. "Apologize for what?"

"For being blind," Elijah said. "For judging you. As Elena and then Katherine. I let my personal vendettas against them affect you and I'm sorry for that. If tomorrow we find out that you _are _either of them, it won't change anything. I'll still treat and respect you as the _Dawn _I know."

She was holding her breath. Only when Klaus touched her hand briefly brought her out of her thoughts. He stared pointedly at her. He wanted her to make up with his brother.

"If you'd excuse me." He'd brushed up against on his way to get up. "I have to somewhere else now. If anything comes up, call for me," he told Dawn.

"I will." Somehow she trusted he'd come. "Thank you, Klaus. For the company. I had a good time."

Elijah looked incredulously at his brother, but Klaus only had eyes for her. He came back to the bed and took her hand. A giddy feeling rushed her as he raised it to press a kiss against the back of her hand. It felt amazing.

"It was _my_ pleasure," he murmured against her skin. Those full, reddened lips turning up into a smile. _Dimples _made their appearance. "We'll have lunch together, _Dawn_."

He clasped both hands around her, squeezing once before letting go. She was too mystified and confused by her body's reaction for him to notice the look exchanged between him and Elijah. After he was gone, Elijah relaxed his shoulders.

"You stayed up all night speaking to Niklaus?" he asked in a formal tone. He fiddled with the cuff on his suit jacket.

"He's very interesting to talk to," she told Elijah.

"What did you talk about?"

"His travels. Stories about other cities and what they're like. I want to go to Paris, Milan, Venice, and New York."

He smiled slightly. "That's a long list of cities."

"And I supposedly have a lifetime to visit them all."

"You do." Elijah nodded. "Dawn?"

So proper; she had to indulge him. "Elijah," she acknowledged.

"Why were you so upset with me from last night, yet you forgave Niklaus right away? He was the one to try to attack you."

Why did she? Klaus had swept her off her feet last night. On top of her answering all her questions, he had also apologized and seemed sincere.

"Because I didn't trust him before," she said. She spoke quickly to let out all her inner thoughts before they became aimless. "I knew he wanted to attack, whoever I was. But you, you held me all night for two days in a row. The second things shifted, you turned your back on me."

A multitude of emotions crossed his face. "I was overwhelmed then, but I see now. I'm sorry, Dawn."

Despite herself, she found that she wanted to forgive him. Not everyone could say they had an ancient vampire apologizing to her. However, he couldn't think that he could do anything he wanted and only apologize later to earn her forgiveness

She turned up her chin like brave Davina and nodded. "Thank you. I'll see you downstairs later. Is Marcel coming by?"

Poor vampire, he looked confused, like he didn't know if she had forgiven him or not. "I don't know. He hasn't called yet."

"Well, let me know if he does."

"Dawn?" Elijah tried.

"Goodbye, Elijah." She even smiled to lessen her temporarily rejection. "I just need some time alone."

"Dawn," she told her reflection a few hours later. "My name is Dawn."

She'd spoken that name to herself out loud so much that it began to feel unreal, had thought it over and its spelling until it felt fictional. It was only of late that she stood in front of the mirror over her bathroom counter.

Elijah had told her Katherina was born in Bulgaria, and Tatia had lived in the same village her entire life in what is now Mystic Falls. Where was she born? Would she ever know? She _had _to have parents.

Somehow, magically, her face had been reborn several times over the centuries. Other girls have lived their entire lives, short-lived as they were but nonetheless, with her same exact features. Her doppelganger blood had been such a magnet and cause for trouble, and she wasn't sure if it was worth it.

Objectively, she was pretty. She was also told her dark hair was longer than the previous doppelgangers, her skin clearer, and her eyes much more innocent.

Deceit and manipulation were also a stipulation. All doppelgangers were famous for having men fall over themselves and fight among each other over her. The same brothers had fallen for both Katherine and Elena at different times. Elijah loved Katherine too once. Klaus and Elijah fought over Tatia a thousand years ago.

What did she, _Dawn_, had to say for herself? She didn't know love. She understood its concept and its magnitude, but she had never loved someone and had never been loved back. Elijah was the only semblance of someone caring for her, when, in his mind, he had been caring for someone else.

It was dizzying, going back and forth between thinking she was a different person every day. Elijah had helped her when he thought she was Elena Gilbert. He refused to help her when he thought she was Katherine Pierce.

Would he help her now as Dawn? Would it feel fulfilling? She hated the thought that he only tolerated her because she looked like a past flame.

She pouted at her reflection, trying out the expression.

She smiled, then her smile widened into a grin. She looked pretty when she did that.

"Hi," she said, testing her facial range. She ran her fingers through her hair. Rebekah's shampoo and conditioner made it look shiny.

"My name is Dawn," she tried, smiling. It looked fake.

She tilted her head and sighed, then yelped when she saw Elijah's face in the mirror behind her. "You scared me."

"My apologies," he said. He seemed to be fighting off a smile. "I heard talking and came to check on you." He gave her a quizzical look. "What is it exactly that you're doing?

"I'm trying to see what the fuss is all about." She went back to examining her features. Her nose was nice, she decided. Her lips were a bit thinner than she'd have liked.

"I don't understand," Elijah said.

"Doppelgangers," she said, like he should know this already. "This face- my face- it's caused so much trouble. I'm trying to understand why it's worth all of the trouble."

"It's not your face." Elijah stepped closer. He was at her back. One move would have his arms around her waist. "May I speak freely?"

That was his gentlemen's way of saying _no offense_, she thought, but nodded.

"It's...unexplainable. They have this allure about them, yes, but it's not all of it. It's what makes you...you. Katherine knew what she wanted, and she was calculating enough to act like the perfect woman so I'd love her. She did the same with the Salvatore brothers. Personally, I sometimes think it's a survival mechanism."

"Survival mechanism? How?"

"It's just a theory," Elijah dismissed.

"No, I want to hear it."

This theory of his he'd been working on it for a long time, it seemed. "From the moment you're born, there's a bounty on your head. A ticking clock. There's an instinct so deeply rooted inside you to survive that you don't know it's there until danger comes, and it does. Like Elena surrounding herself with friends before the sacrifice, and Katherine turning herself into a vampire. Like you coming to seek us."

"But I-" she shifted uncomfortably. She didn't like what he was saying. He was talking about her like she used people and manipulated them. "But I didn't-"

"Another person might wake up alone in a dark place," Elijah said. "And find a name on their wrist. In the old days, that would be your master's name, a brand. Instead of getting the hell away from Klaus, as you had no way of knowing if he did this to you or not, you ran _towards _him. You went to the biggest monsters in town and locked yourself behind their doors. Like it or not, you earned yourself our protection."

She was full on scowling now. "None of it was on purpose," she said, almost fevertly. "You have no idea what it's like to know _nothing_. Not even your own name, where you were, who _hurt _you. I followed the road, looking for Klaus, because he was the only thing clear to me. The only name I knew."

Elijah looked like he wanted to take back what he said. "It's hard," he end up saying. "Trusting. Trusting you. That's why I was looking for reasons not to."

Her anger deflated. "Oh." It didn't erase what he said, but she understood it. Her jaw set tightly, she crossed her arms. "I think you should trust me."

He indulged her, "Care to tell me why?"

She leaned back against the counter. "Besides the fact that I only know four people? You should trust me because I like you. And I wouldn't hurt or betray anyone I like."

The smile he gifted her made her feel like he thought she was charming. "I thought you didn't like me anymore." His tone played at humor.

She shifted, trying to hide the rush of unexplainable giddiness. "Don't be silly. You know I like you."

He smiled. "I like you too, _Dawn_." He emphasized on the name to prove to her that he specifically liked her, no one else sharing her face. "Do you trust me?" he asked her, growing more serious.

"I thought I did," she answered truthfully, frowning. "But when you all thought I was Katherine, and I was mad at you for your reaction, I realized for the first time that someone could betray me. Everyone claims that you all are monstrous vampires, but since I've gotten here, you've protected and helped me."

She liked the way Elijah looked at her then. His sharp features softened, and he didn't look as severe as usual. Standing this close to him was dizzying. His cologne smelled expensive and divine. His suit fit like a tailored glove, if such a thing existed. And he'd followed her here to make sure she was okay.

"In a nutshell." She breathed in deeply, starting to smile. "I'm willing to trust you. That's kind of the same. Just like you'll try to trust me. Oh, and I forgive you for last night."

"Thank you."

He did it. Like she'd imagine it earlier. He stepped closer and put his hand delicately around her waist. She glanced down at his touch, feeling a shiver making goosebumps appear all over her body.

_What is this_? She wanted to ask. _What are you doing_? And why was he making her heart beat like crazy?

His handsome face was so close that she could see a small scar by his mouth that she hadn't noticed before, and another by his neck. She'd never been this close to anyone before. It was exhausting trying to hide her reaction.

"Alright," he murmured. "I'll trust you. Please don't prove me wrong."

Unless he betrayed her first, she wouldn't do anything to jeopardize this. "I won't," she promised. On an impulse, she took his hand and held it. "Listen to my heartbeat so you'll know I'm telling the truth. _I won't betray you_."

He focused for a second. A blush spread up her neck at where his gaze was lingering. Her heart.

Once sure, he pulled his eyes back to her but didn't pull away. "And I promise to protect you," he vowed. "I give you my word."

_Hi, everyone! I know I don't often write author notes but I thought I could give it a try. The idea of this story came to me suddenly, and for the first time in forever, I found myself at my laptop, typing five thousand words at the middle of the night because I was at such a rush to get the words out of my head before they faded. If anyone has taken a peek at my other stories, you'd know I give up or lose interest in stories too fast. I know the outline of Bienvenue, have it all mapped out and thought out, but I have yet to write it. Whenever I begin to lose interest, such a recently, I think of how I'd leave you hanging without knowing what happened and Dawn, and it's neither fair to you or Dawn herself lol.  
_

_This chapter was just bonding time, but I needed to confirm the familiarity between Klaus and Dawn and for Elijah to take protecting Dawn seriously. Next chapter, we'll get a look inside Dawn's mind, literally. _

_Thank you for reading my story! I look forward to your reviews. Thanks to anyone that favorited/followed me! Hope you enjoyed Bienvenue so far._


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT:**

"I guess I'll...look inside your mind." Davina looked uncertain. "I've never done this before."

It was the next day, and her truce with Klaus and Elijah was wonderful. Klaus arranged to have groceries delivered, and Elijah could _cook_. He made the best breakfast foods, better than what Marcel had brought.

Lunch was from a restaurant Klaus liked. There were candles lit up on the dining table, and the lights were dim. It made for a very calm atmosphere. It would've been romantic if it weren't for both Elijah and Klaus being there. The conversation was light, funny. They entertained her with stories about their past, of course leaving out the gory parts for her sake.

Marcel came around for dinner. She knew he was coming to make sure she was unhurt, but she loved his company and vibrant personality so much that she made him stay for longer.

Now, they were in the living room. Dawn had been lying on the sofa, her head cushioned by Elijah's lap, when Marcel and Davina arrived. The only thing that changed was Elijah getting up so he'd look at the spell book they'd brought.

"No," Klaus, acting normal, growled. "You're not to look inside her head."

Davina scowled. "Why? You called me here to do the spell."

"Because despite your summer vacation," Klaus said mockingly, "and your inacivity in trying to murder us, it doesn't mean you'll stop trying. I don't trust you to tell me what you see inside Dawn's mind."

Defiance, and Dawn thought she noticed smugness, brightened Davina's eyes.

"It should be one of us," Elijah said, jumping in before things could escalate to an argument. "Dawn feels safe with us."

"Does she?" Marcel questioned. He really didn't trust the Mikaelsons, did he?

"Yes," Klaus bit out. "We're not savages, Marcel."

"I trust them," Dawn said because that was the only way Marcel would calm down. "Really. They're super nice to me."

"Klaus is nice to you?" Davina asked in disbelief. She shook her head. "You know what? Whatever. Who am I connecting to Dawn's brain?"

Klaus and Elijah turned to each other. They'd each been about to volunteer.

"We-" Elijah started, but Dawn cut him off.

"Flip a coin," she suggested. "_Peacefully_." Spending three meals with them had taught her they bickered like normal siblings about everything. And the fact that they almost never left the house made them slightly crazed with being locked in.

And she didn't want to have to pick if they asked her to. She didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

Klaus narrowed his eyes at her in a glare, but when she was about to flinch away, he realized how intimidating he could be and winked instead.

"Fine," he said with exasperation. "But it better be me. It's _my _name on you." As if she'd ever forget.

He got out a coin from his wallet and held it up for them to see. "Heads, it's me. Tails, Elijah."

Even she straightened up to watch the coin flip. With a reflex faster than her eyes could comprehend, Klaus caught it and set it on the back of his hand. Elijah also leaned over to look.

"Tails," he announced. "Davina, shall we begin?"

Klaus looked like he wanted to bare his teeth in frustration. He turned away for a moment to face the fireplace before coming back to her side with a clear face.

All Dawn had to do was lay down, close her eyes, and think of the very first thing she remembered. Elijah's unwavering reassuring presence helped her relax. At Davina's instructions, he kneeled by her side and gently cupped her head.

Shuddering at the incantation Davina started to cast, Dawn reached her hand out in the air. For what, exactly, she didn't know. Her request was granted almost right away. Klaus' cologne was recognizable as he took her hand, squeezed it reassuringly before letting go. He didn't want to interfere with the spell. After letting go, he didn't move away. She thought she felt him sitting on the edge of the coffee table by her knees.

"There," Elijah announced, his voice alone in the room. "I'm in."

Just as she thought it was strange that he was inside her _mind _without her sensing anything, she felt an almost _tug_-like sensation deep in her head. Alarmed by it, she resisted.

"You're not letting me in," Elijah said, scolding her. "I can feel your hesitance, Dawn. I won't hurt you."

Davina's spell felt intrusive, but Elijah somehow countered it. It felt like if he went inside her mind, he'd fix it, and she trusted him to.

Taking in a deep breath, she let go of her wariness and trusted.

The first thing he saw was his own face.

She was thinking about him, repeating a mantra to herself on how to trust him. As if he was her, seeing through her eyes, he saw how she regarded him; how safe she felt around him; how much she restrained herself from seeking him out every time she felt anxious.

He heard- _felt_ her think of Klaus. Of how she was giddy that he'd chosen to sit so close to her, that he'd kissed her hand twice now.

Davina she liked as a person, but she was more afraid of her than she was of them. On the principle that she was a witch.

Intruding on her opinions of them wasn't a very noble thing to do, but it quenched that doubt he had. There was no way she could be hiding everything. As old and repetitive as it sounded, Katarina Petrova wouldn't let anyone do this to her under any circumstances.

Fear spiked both their heartbeats. She followed their instructions to think about the first thing remembered. The paralyzing fear of waking up the way she did unnerved even him, and he'd been daggered and locked into a coffin several times.

The pain of her arm. Everything hurt. It was the truth, that she knew nothing before that moment. Because of that, her pain was heightened because of her lack of experience. Naive too, she just laid there, unable to understand why she felt pain and that she should run as far away as possible. Eventually, she did. The rain, the storm, the freezing cold and her wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm.

It was gut-wrenching, and he wanted to take Dawn in his arms and tell her that she shouldn't restrain herself around him. If she needed comfort, that was the least he could do. He could use it at the moment, as his fear was fresher than as he lived through her memories.

"What do you see?" Klaus' voice was gentle, as to not startle them out of their trance.

Not wanting to lose his focus, Elijah shook his head and tightened his grip on Dawn. She whimpered. He was about to let go, but then he caught a glimpse of something. A fading feeling. A memory that she didn't have a grasp on.

It explained why she had a primal fear of witches. Why she was afraid of her ally, a girl half her size.

This time, he was blind. She'd mentioned her theory of blindness. They thought the place where she woke up was just dark, but there was actually a time when she couldn't see. All she heard and knew was pain and a woman chanting the spell that caused it.

A woman. That was their first clue. But then there were other voices. Male and female. Some kind of cult?

No, it was distinct magic that they performed. Dark and vile, but magic he knew.

In the darkness, there were perks and curses. Every other sense was turned up to a hundred. When someone started walking her way, she heard every step loudly as her ear was also pressed to the ground.

Several steps followed the first. Different people with different scents. They stood over her.

"Is she done yet?" a man drawled, sounding almost bored.

"Not yet," a younger woman answered, her voice soft yet it held the ability to cause pain. She was the one to cast the agony-inducing spells on her.

"Is she close?" Elijah thought it was a different man who asked that. He sounded infinitely more interested than the first.

There was a sigh. The woman again. "Not yet."

Then the agony started, flogging her like a whip. It dived into each nerve and directly tased it. No matter how much she screamed, how much she tried to form words to beg for mercy, she never stopped chanting.

Elijah thought she was blind, but she could see everything. Was her mind blocking him? She wasn't actively trying to do so, but the brain had a way to protect itself.

She could see herself on the floor, sprawled on her stomach and whimpering, voice gone. Elijah was the one living through it, feeling the pain that she couldn't believe she had forgotten. Freshly carved symbols bled down her back, drenching the white sheet that covered her. As she moved around her own body, she caught sight of her right arm.

It was thin and frail, but no _Klaus _brand.

How was that possible? No matter how much she tried to concentrate, she couldn't remember what happened. Yet, Elijah and Davina had unlocked a doorway to a locked away part of her.

Unable to hear her agonized screams, she forced her gaze away, and abruptly met with Elijah's disbelieving eyes. He was standing behind her, hand clutching his chest.

"You pushed me away," he said, the vampire almost breathless. "When the pain started, you pushed me away."

What a mercy that was. "Elijah, I want to get out of here," she whimpered.

He winced at another of her prolonged screams. "Dawn, this could be our only-"

"_No_! I hate this. I don't want to be reminded of it. Please get me out of here," she pleaded. "I'll do anything. Just, please, _please_ let's go."

"Dawn-" he touched her arm, and her skin crawled with his touch. Parallel to her, her body lurched on the ground.

Because she'd never seen whoever tortured her like this, they could only see herself on the ground. The symbols on her back glowed with the magic manipulating it like an invisible force. In reality, in the past, it had been that woman.

Elijah wrapped his arms around her waist, and she nearly collapsed on him. Distressed as she was becoming, her breathing quickened and tightened.

Why wasn't he listening to her? Why did he insist and force her to watch herself being torture? She wanted _out _of here. Out of this painful memory and this horrid reality and the pain and being punished for something she didn't do-

Violently, she tore herself away from her conscious and back to the real world, throwing Elijah out for the intrusion in the process.

She was gasping sharply, hyperventilating. Her back arched off the sofa and she threw herself into a sitting position, her eyes impossibly wide in fear.

Someone touched her back, and she scrambled to the other side of the couch. From his place behind where her head was, Elijah was still kneeling on the ground, his mouth agape.

"What is it?" Klaus was demanding, growing angrier when their only reactions were to stare helplessly at each other in shock. "What happened? What did you see?"

Elijah released a heavy breath. "Dawn…" he said intimately. _You poor thing_, he meant. He made to move towards her, but she didn't want him to. She didn't want to be reminded of that _memory_. It felt like a parasite in her head. It wouldn't stop replaying over and over again. Each time, a new sharp ache in her body shot through her.

Frustrated with being ignored, Klaus determinedly came up to her in sure strides and forcibly took her chin in his hand.

"What. Happened?" he bit out through gritted teeth.

_Klaus_. He didn't know. He was here. Warm, and safe and protecting. He hadn't forced her to watch her most painful memory.

In one movement that surprised them both, considering he had been planning to kill her a few days ago, Dawn threw herself into his arms.

Acting on instinct, he caught her, gripping her waist tightly as to keep her from falling. Cocooned by security, or what she interpreted it to be, she let her tears flow free. Her breath hitched on every sob, choking on the lump of sadness in her throat.

Delicately, Klaus raised his hand to cup the back of her head, and he helped guide her to his shoulder. He even readjusted his grip on her waist to pull her closer.

"You have a lot to answer for," Klaus threatened.

Dawn froze, thinking that he was talking to her.

"Elijah," Klaus growled lowly. She felt it rumble through his chest. "We all heard her talk to you. What did you see that made her so afraid?"

Elijah was clearly still off-balance. He stumbled towards them. As a result, she burrowed deeper into Klaus, even letting out a frustrated sound.

"Dawn," Elijah said apologetically. "I had no power there, you know that. Davina pulled us out as soon as you said so."

Despite Klaus not loosening his hold, she peeked out of his chest. "You weren't trying to make me stay in there?" Vulnerability lowered her voice. Just yesterday, they'd promised to trust each other. If he was willing to watch her suffer, then that was unforgivable in her book.

"No," Elijah denied immediately. "I told you it was the last time so we might make the best of it because you won't be going back. I won't let you go through that memory again. We'll find a way around it."

He seemed adamant, and angry.

"Someone tell me what the memory was," Klaus said, radiating tense energy.

Elijah ignored his brother. He took one strand of her hair that was hiding her face and tucked it behind her ear. "Would you rather be upstairs for this?" he offered kindly.

As tempting as that, she almost took him up on that. "I want to know what everyone thinks."

Trailing his hand to touch her cheek, Elijah smiled. "Brave girl."

She missed him when he stepped back, so she hid her face back in Klaus' still willing chest and tried to block out Elijah explaining her memories. What she was going to take Elijah up on was never coming back to that place in her mind.

That night, Elijah and Klaus stayed up to discuss what they'd seen. Dawn was in the room with them because it was _her _past they were talking about, but she didn't have much to say. Even thinking about it brought a white, hot flash of pain to her back.

Eventually, Elijah figured out that her eyes were barely staying open for more than a few seconds. "I believe it's time to call it a night."

She shook her head adamantly. She knew the moment she closed her eyes, she'd be haunted by her memories. "No, not yet. I'm not tired."

Klaus leaned forward, an amused arch to his mouth at her blatant lie. "Are you lying, sweet Dawn?"

She made her eyes forcibly stay wide to stare definitely at him. Damn it, he thought that was amusing too.

"I'll tell you what," Elijah said. "Dawn, why don't you rest your eyes and Niklaus and I will stay right here. We'll wake up if we find anything important."

He was placating her, but her head was feeling heavier by the second. A nod was all she could manage. Klaus gave her a reassuring smile before he resumed his conversation with his brother about magic and whatnot.

Dawn closed her eyes one second, and opened them to that nightmarish room the very next.

Horror made her gasp. _She knew it _That was why she'd been so afraid to fall asleep in the first place.

What would she see now? What horrible memory would resurface?

Instead of watching herself from a third person's point of view, she was back to her blind self, terrified. However, this time, something was different. A soft surface supported her head, lifting it up.

"-and you know he gave me the _dirtiest _look," a man spoke from right beside her. He sounded like he'd been speaking for a long time. "For God's sake, the man _refuses _to go shopping. All he wears is stuff his mother bought or ones he already has. God forbid I spend a couple grand on of _precious_ money on Fendi sunglasses. He just doesn't understand the importance of fashion. And he has no _class_."

Why wasn't she being tortured? The conversation topic was almost laughable if she wasn't unable to move.

"At times like this I miss being a vampire," the man added. She imagined a pout accompanying his statement. "Back then, I could compel myself whatever I wanted and no one blinked an eye. Just because I'm a witch now, which is also amazing, I'm supposed to have morales? Ridiculas. I happen to-"

The creaky door to the room suddenly opened. A voice her subconscious associated with suffering spoke, "I told you to stop spreading information so freely."

The man next to her scoffed. "She's unconscious. It's not like she can hear me." That was a blatant untruth. She _could_, and she was almost certain the man knew it too. "Besides, I'm bored. Would you rather I _talk _or take a stroll through the town? See what chaos I could resurrect."

An odd choice of words. She wanted to sit up and demand answers. Those resurrection symbols on her back- was he responsible for them?

She wanted to take deep breaths, but she could only lie there, listening to two men arguing over her unmoving body like that wasn't alarming, like they hadn't put her there.

Panic electrified her body, so much so that she woke up with a gasp.

Elijah and Klaus were still in the room with her, though standing at the farthest corner to talk comfortably without disturbing her sleep. At her gasp, they turned to her. They saw her tear streaked face and raced over.

"What happened?" Klaus demanded.

"I-" She tried to reach for the source of the overwhelming fright she'd felt. She knew it was caused by a dream, a memory, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember. "I had a nightmare. I think it was a memory."

The brothers grimly exchanged a look. "Do you remember anything of it?" Elijah questioned.

With a sinking heart, the information felt like it was on the tip of her tongue, but she _could not remember_. "No." Her heart continued to race. "I don't remember a thing."


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE:**

"A witch hunt," Marcel repeated, incredulous. "You want to what, question every witch in town?"

"For starters, yes," Klaus said in an obvious tone. Elijah nodded along in agreement. "Two men and a young woman. That's what Elijah and Dawn heard."

"We need a better plan than that," Marcel said. "We can't, like, bring everyone and ask Dawn if she recognized their voice."

"You are right about that," Elijah said. "We don't want them to know of her existence or relation with us."

"Yeah, about that." Marcel looked between the two brothers. "What is your relationship with Dawn?"

Klaus poured the shot of whiskey in his glass back in one gulp to avoid answering the question, while Elijah averted his eyes.

"Seriously?" Marcel demanded, almost laughingly. "Two grown ass Original vampires can't answer a single question about a woman?"

"She's not just a woman," Klaus said. Carelessly, he put his glass on the floor by the sofa and stretched out so he laid there. "She's a doppelganger."

"So what? It's not another species."

"It's complicated," Elijah spoke. His head was tilted to the side, and Klaus realized he'd been half focused on their conversation while paying attention to Dawn. She was singing upstairs along with Klaus' record player. The same album had been on repeat all morning, but neither of them minded.

"And we're not here to discuss our romantic endeavors with lovely Dawn," Klaus said. "We want to find out who hurt her, then get revenge. Simple as that."

Marcel nodded placatingly. The bastard knew there was more to it than that, but he was thankfully keeping silent for now. His friendship with Dawn was one of the only reasons Klaus even let him back into the compound.

And honestly, he liked how it grated on Elijah's nerves.

See, and it was just a theory really, but Klaus was sure Elijah was jealous of Marcel. He didn't like splitting Dawn's attention and affection with Klaus in the first place. And Dawn acted like a girl with a crush around Marcel, always hugging and kissing his cheek for welcomes and goodbyes. It was amusing to watch Elijah almost always pull her into his arms straight after, as if to establish domination. Dawn never noticed anything. She liked to hug and touch, didn't mind whoever was doing the holding whatsoever. Just this morning, she'd bubbled into the kitchen after a surprisingly good night's sleep. After last night's events with the breakdown and Elijah's declaration, none of them expected her to be able to sleep.

They'd camped out in the largest living room, trying between the two of them to distract Dawn from her thoughts. Conversation and good food and the fireplace dimly lit, Dawn had fallen asleep on the sofa, her head on Elijah's lap and her feet curled up by Klaus' legs.

At breakfast later, instead of her normal 'good morning', she'd plopped herself down on Klaus' lap and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you," she'd said. "For holding me yesterday. You're really good at it." She'd phrased it like the highest of compliments. A second later, as Elijah came back with her plate, she got up like it was nothing and directed that same sweet smile at his brother.

"We shall not speak of this," Klaus ordered Marcel. "Dawn is to be hidden and protected."

"No one in New Orleans has ever seen a doppelganger before." Marcel spread his arms wide. "She's getting restless, and we haven't been getting any answers. Let her go out. We'll take her to Rousseau's. Maybe Cami could talk to her."

"No, I won't have your therapist friend diagnose Dawn like she's a test subject." Klaus refused immediately. "If she wants friends, she has us. That's enough."

Marcel's phone rang, someone calling him about some mundane issue that came with ruling the quarter.

"We're not done talking about this," Marcel said as he was leaving. "That girl needs a night away from all the crazy. I'm talking about you two. You're fucking insane."

Music was heavenly.

And Dawn liked to dance. It'd started after finding a record player in one of the unexplored rooms of the compound, then running upstairs to ask Klaus for permission. Not only did he agree, he went with her to show her how it worked and help pick an album to play.

"What are you in the mood for, love?"

Yes, _love_. Klaus called her love, and darling sometimes. As did Elijah. It made excited butterflies dance in her stomach.

She went over to Klaus to look over his collection of records. To get a clearer view, she wrapped her hands around his elbow and leaned her head to his arm. "I don't know. I've never heard music before. Not that I remember."

Getting over his initial tenseness over her touch, Klaus now relaxed under her. His voice wasn't mocking anymore as he spoke to her. "That is a goddamn shame. We won't have that."

He reached for a record. The name was lost on her, but the moment it started playing, she fell in love with it.

"Do you like it?" Klaus asked, already half smiling.

She grinned up to him. "I love it. It makes me…" She was feeling so good. Like the song had shot up her veins with euphoria. "It's so good it makes me want to dance."

"Dance?" his accented voice thickened with amusement. "I don't suppose you've danced before."

"How hard can it be?" Dawn said. She leaned against his arm for a moment longer before pulling away. "Do you dance?"

"Yes. I've always liked dancing." He took a step back, his reddened lips spreading into an intentioned smirk. Bent in half a bow, he offered his hand humbly. "My lady."

The smile on her face was unerasable. She thought about teasing him and letting him hang out for a while, but the temptation was too much. As soon as her hand gently laid into his, he pulled her to him, putting a little bit of strength so she'd fall onto him.

His grin was somewhat vicious as he stared down at her.

Narrowing her eyes, she pushed lightly against his shoulder. "You're trying to make me fall for you, aren't you, Mikaelson?"

Their playful mood dampened as they both realized what she'd said, or rather, what she didn't say. The _Klaus _brand was red and scabbing under her bandage. Elijah had just changed the wrapping this morning. It had only just began healing.

Slowly, carefully, Klaus raised her right arm and stared at the covered spot where his name was. To her eternal shock, while holding her gaze, he lifted her arm and pressed a feather-like light kiss to it.

"I don't know why anyone chose my name to put on you," Klaus murmured. "I will make them suffer for hurting you, but I find myself grateful it brought you to me."

"Klaus…" she said it right this time, but he cut in.

"I spoke with Elijah," he continued. On her waist, his other hand gripped tightly. If she pulled away, would he let her? "I'm not sure if it's supposed to be a secret, but he told me what you said. About how frightening it was to wake up alone, not knowing your name. How _my _name was the only thing you knew and that was why you looked for me."

Swallowing hard past the lump of tears forming in her throat, Dawn looked away, unable to hold his intense blue eyes any longer. The hand holding her arm let her go and grabbed her chin, wrenching her chin back.

"Marcel will mock me if he ever heard of this," Klaus said, looking unsettled as much as Klaus Mikaleson could look. "But no one's ever come to me for help before. Not like you did. No one has trusted me as much as you did, on blind faith no less. At least before I mucked it up the second we met."

"You were drunk that night," she told him, as though informing him. It wasn't an excuse to justify what he'd done, but a statement to see how he responded.

Nodding in acknowledgment, Klaus said, "I was. I've been...angry this last summer. I had to let go of something very precious to me. Ever since then, life had been depressively bleak and hopeless."

"I've felt hopeless too," she shared quickly, eyes wide. "All the miles I walked here in the storm, and when I thought you didn't want me."

"So you know how much a little hope can lessen those heavy thoughts." Klaus cradled her face in both hands. "And how you've been the only bright spot to pave the way to waking up in the morning without a heavy heart."

_You lonely, sad man. _Dawn thought sadly. She felt his longing for a connection with another human as though it was her own.

"In the next few days," Klaus said reluctantly. "We might find out something new. Something that could change everything. It's why I want to do this now."

Maybe it was her own longing that made her so desperate for everything, human touch more than anything. Maybe that was why she let him kiss her.

In one forward movement, Klaus connected their lips together in a brief, toe-curling kiss. She'd never felt anything like it, anything so electrifying and dizzying.

She almost went back for more straight away. "Wait," she said quickly. "We're absolutely sure I'm not Elena Gilbert, right?"

Breathing hard, Klaus frowned in confusion but answered, "Yes, we're sure. Your blood didn't connect to Jeremy's, remember?"

She released a heavy exhale. "Good." She kissed him. Her kind of kisses was different from his. While he'd been passionate, speaking a thousand words and promises with his kiss, she was light and inexperienced.

He grinned wolfishly, like she was adorable. In between kisses, he slowly took control until he had possession of her mouth.

They kissed until giggling rose up in her throat. It was a side effect of being so giddy and feeling good. Klaus pulled away with a playful roll of his eyes, still holding on to her.

She lost it when his narrowed eyes turned into a mock glare, laughing into his shoulder while wrapping her arms around his waist to pull him down to her for a greedy kiss.

"That felt good," she said breathlessly. "Like, really good."

His smirk came back devilish. "Oh yeah?"

She needed to convince him more. "Do you like me, Klaus? Is that why you kissed me?"

He leaned their foreheads together, and God, did it feel good. "Yes, Dawn, love. I kissed you because I like you. There's no one like you."

_There's no one like you_. How ironic was that? There were three other hers, and she was the _copy_. Having Klaus say that to her...it was so incredibly gratifying.

Such overwhelming and heavy bearing emotions was too much. Dawn sucked in a shaky breath and gathered all her courage to press a kiss to his stubbled cheek.

The peck affected Klaus too, as his heart was beating a million times a minute when she lowered her hands to his chest. That gave her courage and belief that Klaus had a human part of him just like her.

"Let's dance," she said gently, afraid to raise her voice as to not break the atmosphere they'd sealed themselves into.

"Anything for you, love."

Later that night, it was inevitable that she dreamt of her hellish memories. In real life, she was in her room at the compound. Elijah was sleeping next to her, spooning her from the back. Before she'd closed her eyes, Klaus was by the window, nursing a glass of whiskey.

She wasn't blind this time. Her vision was weak and blurry, felt like it was covered with a layer of something that altered the world's colors. Even though this was the first time she was consciously living through this after forgetting, she felt like she was seeing the world all wrong.

The circle of symbols was around her, staining the dirty brick floor with fresh blood. Her back felt wet too, and ached when she tried to move.

"I heard them talking."

She screamed when she heard the voice right next to her ear. Her body on the ground didn't so much as twitch. She was only moving and shouting behind bars in her head.

The voice, an unfamiliar woman, was saying. "They want to do it tomorrow."

"_Fuck_," An identical voice swore. Exactly the same. Dawn first thought it was the same woman, but the voices came from two different sides of the room.

"Now we go for the plan?" _One _of them said.

"We'll make them regret ever thinking about using us."


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN:**

The dream mystified them all. Elijah ruled it out as a simple dream and believed it was 100% a memory.

"Maybe Davina unlocked the part of your mind that was blocked," he explained. "Now the memories, disguised as dreams, are trickling in."

She felt differently. "Well, I don't _want _them," she said passiently. "It hurts. Every single time. It feels like someone's cutting a knife in me."

Elijah took a step towards her. He was standing at the foot of her bed, and Klaus besides him. The hybrid moved at the same time, beating Klaus to her. Mouth slightly gaped, Elijah stood silent as Klaus sat by her, cupping her cheeks.

"Next time, I'll be right there with you," he proclaimed. "Vampires can enter and alter someone's dream at will. Elijah will be there with you as well, and we'll pull you out if it gets scary."

Before he finished, she was already shaking her head. "It'll still hurt."

As immortals, pain may have gotten irrelevant to them, but every scrap hurt like hell to her inexperienced nerves.

"You trust us, don't you?" Elijah asked.

This morning, when she'd woken up with a frightened gasp, Elijah had woken up immediately and called for Klaus, who had come immediately. When she needed them, they came.

"Yes, I do."

"Then tomorrow, we'll give it a try," Elijah said.

"Why not tonight?" she asked confusedly. Klaus and Elijah exchanged a heavy look. "What is that?" she said. "What does that look mean?"

"Tonight," Klaus said. His jaw clenched. "We thought- Marcel also thought- that you'd like to spend the night out."

Spend the night out?

"Marcel will take you sightseeing," Elijah explained patiently. "You can eat at a restaurant, take a walk, see what New Orleans has to offer. Afterwards, Marcel will take you to his apartment on the other side of the river. Davina will be there. You'll be perfectly safe. In the morning, he'll bring your back."

"But _why_?" Dawn was confused. Despite it, she was elated at possibly going out. She'd been locked for days now. While the outside world hadn't been exactly kind to her, she still wanted to try.

Klaus and Elijah looked at each then switched places so it was Elijah by her side. He took her hands in his. "Do you trust me, Dawn? Do you trust us?"

She thought of Elijah holding her every night, of Klaus not knowing how to handle her sitting in his lap at breakfast, and of the way they smiled at her in passing. Davina acted surprised when they were nice, like they treated her differently than anyone else.

"Yes."

The smile that Elijah gave her was rewarding enough. "Good." His hand caressed hers calmingly. "We'll tell you about it later, but for now, you need to be somewhere away from the compound. Just temporarily."

"You're not just dumping me on Marcel, are you?" she was only half joking.

Klaus snorted and looked away.

"No," Elijah said, arching an eyebrow at his brother like what he did was off. "When you get back tomorrow morning, you can ask us whatever you want and we'll do our best to answer truthfully."

An experienced person might've caught the wording in Elijah's sentence, that he didn't promise to be completely honest at any cost. But Dawn smiled, charmed by his smooth and confident tone and smiled. "Alright."

Hours later, in a pretty sundress Klaus had revealed to her with a devilish smile, and the smallest kitten heels, she walked hand in hand with Marcel Gerard through the streets of New Orleans.

Everything she saw, she was fascinated by, and Marcel was fascinated by her.

"What do you really think of the Mikaelsons?" Marcel asked in a casual tone. They were walking down a slightly darker street, away from all the noise. Rightfully so, Marcel noticed Dawn was quickly overwhelmed and smoothly steered her away.

A smile came onto Dawn's face. "I really like them." There was a giggle-ish tint to her voice.

"Yeah?" Marcel probed. "They treating you okay?"

It was sweet how concerned he was. "They're so nice to me. A few days ago, Klaus gave me his credit card and told me to get whatever I wanted online. He said his bank account has been growing for a couple hundred years now and no matter how much I spent, it wouldn't make a difference."

"He gave you money," Marcel asked almost dryly. "I'm kind of curious as to what you and Klaus do in your spare time. Do you...talk, watch movies, take walks…" He trailed off. Dawn got the feeling that he was fishing for something specific but didn't know what.

"We talk," Dawn answered, cautious of Marcel. "He tells me about his adventures over the years, and we listen to music on his record player."

"He never lays a hand on you?" Marcel questioned. "Not even a needle?"

What an odd thing to ask. Dawn stopped to stare at Marcel in disbelief. "Why would Klaus-"

One moment Marcel was standing right in front of her, then with an audible _crack_, his neck violently twisted to the side. Dawn screamed as he fell down like a bag of rocks by her feet.

"Lovely doppelganger," a smooth accented voice called out. A young, handsome man with light brown hair stepped out of the shadows. He was taller, much taller than me. The roguish smile on his face was deceptive.

Alarm sirens deafened me. Instinctive fear made me stumble back in my uncomfortable shoes, almost bumping into a dead-for-now Marcel Gerard. The longer his hazel eyes stared unnervingly into mine, the more my brain came up with scattered images.

His smile softened into a satisfied expression. "Ah, there we go. Remembering, aren't we?"

And the longer he talked, something about his accent and his unique mannerism that struck a feeling of dread. This man knew her, _hurt _her-

"You _asshole_!" she snapped, copying Marcel. The man's eyes widened, cat-like bright in the moonlight, before he barked out strange sounding laughter.

"A long way from whimpering and begging, huh?" he praised, and yes, it sounded like a praise. "Good girl. That pitiful look doesn't work for your kind. I admit, though, it did tug at my heart sometimes."

"Did you feel bad when you were torturing me?" She did not even want to think about. Elijah helped with her denial, while Klaus wanted her to accept her. This, here, was the bane of her suffering. Him, another man, and that devil woman.

Feline-like, the man tilted his head to the side. He rocked back on his heels. "Is that what you think happened?"

_Yes, yes, yes, damn you!_ How could she have been anything but tortured?

"I remember blood, pain," her voice choked on emotion. It wasn't easy to dig into that part of her. "Your face, your _voice_. You were almost always there." It was clearer now. "Why don't I remember everything? What did you do to me?"

"That, I feel comfortable answering," he said, cheerful. "I promise you, and have Davina Claire double check, your memory was not tampered with by me. It might even be my most genius work yet."

"What does that mean?" she demanded hoarsely. "Genius work? I'm your _work_?"

"For many years, I've been denied my true nature," he said. His smile wasn't amused anymore, but trapping. Make him snap and he'd make her regret it. "Look in the mirror, darling, and see how beautiful you are."

None of it made sense. "I know I haven't been around for long," Dawn said through gritted teeth. Tears were gone, and anger replaced it. This man was throwing his knowledge around in front of her, trying to confuse her. "But I know enough that you're here to taunt me. It's not going to work if I don't understand what you're saying in the first place."

"Oh, and I was just bragging about my work," he said in a completely different tone, mocking her as if he was disappointed. "Did you turn out to be slow?"

Oh, fuck him. He wanted to insult her? She had nothing to defend herself, no weapons.

Fascinated, like a scientist evaluating his test subject, he watched as she tried not to lose her balance as she used her toes and take off her pointed kitten heels. She took both off in a matter of seconds. The relief that came with finally relieving her sore feet was magnified by the yelp of surprise that the man made when her shoe connected with his chest.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" he shouted in offense. "We're _talking _and you throw a fucking heel at me? What sort of flawed machinery are you?"

She hurled her other shoe. "I am _not _a machine, you _asshole_. Leave me alone."

His face twisted into outrage. She didn't have any time to prepare when he suddenly marched at her. He got in her face. "Try something else at me. I dare you."

"If I had anything else, I would," she snarled back.

He looked down at her. "There's that Petrova fire. Apparently, it's hereditary."

"It's not Petrova," she said. "My name is Dawn." Her name was her own. Something he didn't have anything to do with, and she was proud of it.

"You named yourself?" he pulled back slightly.

"I-" _Klaus did_. Maybe mentioning the world's number one enemy wasn't a good idea? Without meaning to, her gaze dropped to her right arm. A bandage covered his name.

The man's eyes followed hers. Dark anger radiated off him. He didn't look surprised, but like he'd been reminded of a bad memory.

"Hey!" she tried to pull back when he gripped his arm, his touch familiar, but he was stronger. Only his grip around her elbow was tight, but the hand that unraveled her bandage was gentle. His reaction when seeing the scabbed _Klaus _etched deep into her skin was genuine.

"How did that work out for you? Did it guide you to protection or doom?" he asked, no smile, no telling tone.

He also didn't allow her to pull back this time. He even tugged her closer. "Did you find him? I assume you did, given the company of Marcel Gerard." He said the name with a sneer, as if he didn't like him.

If her nails were longer, she'd have clawed at him by now. "Did you do this to me? You sick, son of-"

Now, that amusement was back. She caught a glimpse of it before he pulled her to his chest, as though in a hug. To any onlookers, they looked like two friends, maybe lovers embracing, though his grip on the back of her head to keep her still was more forceful than friendly.

"You will not finish that sentence if you value your pretty doppelganger head," he warned. "And it will not be me administering the punishment, so I guarantee you won't like it."

"Who _are _you?" she demanded, exhausted and frustrated. "You were there. I know it."

He huffed a breath. "I was," he confessed. "Is that all you remember?"

"There was a hellish woman-" she was confused by his bark of laughter. "-another man, and you. You took turns hurting me."

"Poor, poor, doppelganger." he smiled. He started swaying them back and forth in a mockery of a slow dance. "I know it hurt, but that was not our intention."

She adopted his tone and tilted her head like he'd done. "Did your hand slip and carve a resurrection symbol on my back? Because _that _hurt."

Delightfully surprised, he let go of her head and used a finger to nudge her chin up. "You're that far along? I'm surprised you've gathered that much."

"Just tell me what happened," she said to him. Up close, seeing those hazel eyes that always looked like he was having fun, she felt like he could listen to her. "What's your name?"

"Promise you won't tell my family?" he asked, smirking. "Kol Mikaelson, at your service."

That name rung a horrible, guilty bell. "The same-"

"The one and only," he bragged. Letting go of her but not stepping back, he spread his arms wide and turned around like he was showing off himself. "I'm normally much more handsome than this, but this bastard isn't so bad, is he?"

She was going to die.

She wanted Elijah, Klaus, _Marcel _to wake up and help her. _Anyone_.

"Don't give me that scared look," he said, as if scolding. "You're not Elena Gilbert, I know you've come to that. You have no reason to fear me."

The hysterical laugh that bubbled up in her throat surprised her. "I don't? You admit to be the one to have me before. You said I'm your work, whatever that means. And you made me lose my shoes."

He gasped mockingly. "You brat. You could've hurt me with those, you know."

"They were hurting me more."

He breathed a chuckle. With a snap of his fingers, her shoes came flying out at them. Dawn almost ducked to avoid being hit by them, but they came to Kol's hands and settled there.

"_There_," he said. "Now you can go home. Marcel will wake up any minute now. You're safer at the compound. Don't go to his place. And for God's sake, don't go out at night in shoes you can't hope to run in. I'm barely keeping you alive as it is."

"Kol?" she said. "What are you doing? Do you want to hurt me or help me?"

He'd been terrifying at the beginning. Having Marcel drop to the ground with his head unnaturally twisted to the side like a horror movie was certainly fear inducing. Then seeing him, Kol now as she knew his name, come out of the alleway and tower over her…

"You're scary," Dawn told him.

He smiled. "And you're adorable, like a kitten. Feistier than a kitten though. Maybe a wildcat." In a quick move, he kissed her cheek. "I've missed you, wildcat."

"I don't know who you are," she breathed. "But you're so familiar."

"I know." He cradled her face in his hands. He leaned their foreheads together, pouting as if this was painful for him. "I wish for you to remember this, but forget my real name. You'll know me as Kaleb, the handsome bloke who saved you from the bad, bad witches."

"Is that a lie?" Of course it had only been just him tonight, but before. "Did you save me? How did I get away from the two others?"

"With help, of course." He winked. "Now, call me by my name."

_Kol_. "Kaleb." She gasped and covered her mouth. "What the hell?"

"Good girl," he said. Still looking at her, he moved his body slightly to the side. "You alright there, mate?"

"Fucking hell," Marcel groaned. For the second time, Dawn gasped. She abandoned Kol, though he looked irritated at having been interrupted, and raced to kneel beside Marcel.

"Are you okay?" she asked urgently, helping as he straightened up. The second his eyes landed on Kol, he was about to lunge like an uncoiled snake.

"He's okay," she said quickly, stopping him. "He helped us."

Why did she do that? Kol could be the most dangerous one ever. In fact, she thought he was the only danger in the street.

"Against what exactly?" Marcel got up easily and helped her to her feet.

"Witches, mate," Kol said in a make-believe tone. "Scary lot those are, me not included. I saw a pretty lady in need-" he winked at her. "-and thought, 'why the hell not?' So here we are. I don't suppose the lovely lady would reward me with a phone number?"

_**So, Kol's here! Lol. He's my all time favorite character.**_

_**I sincerely hope you forgive me for the delay in updating. As I said earlier, I'm losing inspiration to continue this story. It's such a shame, since I have always everything figured out. I'll try my best, but forgive me if anything's a little off. Anyway, thank for reading! And thanks for the comments and favorite. Please tell me what you think of this chapter and I hope that you'll keep reading!** _


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